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Full Name	Djibril Cisse
Birth Date	August 12, 1981
Birth Place	Arles, France
Height	1.85m

Weight	83.8 kg
Age	27
Position	Forward
Squad #	9

Djibril Cisse Bio

Cisse joined Sunderland on a season-long loan from Ligue 1 side Olympique Marseille in August 2008.

It marked a return to the Premier League after a two-year absence following his exit from Liverpool in 2006. Cisse, brought to Anfield under the reign of Gerard Houllier, claimed he was forced out of the club by new boss Rafa Benitez.

Noted for his pace, and his ever changing hair styles, Cisse made his name at AJ Auxerre after rising through the ranks to become the top scorer in the French Ligue 1 for the 2001/02 and 2003/04 seasons.

When Liverpool swooped with a £14million deal for the Frenchman he had scored 70 goals in 128 league games for Auxerre and had made his international debut for France, against Belgium in May 2002.

Following the sacking of Houllier at Liverpool Cisse struggled to win over Benitez despite scoring on his debut in a 1-1 draw with Tottenham Hotspur. His chances of making an impression were further hampered when he broke his leg against Blackburn Rovers in October 2004.

He returned in time to play a part as Liverpool won the Champions League final at the end of the 2004/05 season, beating AC Milan on penalties in Istanbul.

With a good pre-season under his belt much was expected of the player in 2005/06 and Cisse even bought a house that came with the peerage title of Lord of the Manor of Frodsham as he looked to settle down.

But the signing of Peter Crouch marginalised his position as the obvious choice as 'the big man up top'.

During the season he was used primarily as a right winger. With remarkable pace, Cisse was suited to the role, but unhappy at not being played as a striker.

Due, in part, to his lack of first team chances, Cisse agreed a loan move to Marseille at the end of the 2005/06 season, but broke his leg again while playing for France in a World Cup warm up match against China.

In December 2006 Cisse recovered from injury to make his debut for Marseille and scored his first goal in a 2-1 victory over AS Saint-Étienne.

Cisse made the move permament, costing Marseille €8million in 2007 and after a slow start to the season Cisse scored four goals in his final seven league appearances to finish the season with eight goals in 21 league appearances as Marseille finished second in Ligue 1 to guarantee a Champions League berth for 2007/08.