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David Bellion (born 27 November 1982 in Paris, France) is a French footballer of Senegalese origin who currently plays for Bordeaux.

[edit] Career

[edit] Cannes

Bellion started his career at Cannes at the age of 14, and earned a move to English side Sunderland in the summer of 2001.

[edit] Sunderland

He made his Sunderland senior debut at Fulham in August 2001, coming on as a substitute. The Frenchman's first senior goal was against Aston Villa in September 2002.^[1]

Following the goal, Bellion found himself a first team regular at Sunderland, although was unable to save them from relegation with the third-lowest Premier League points tally ever. Towards the end of the season, Bellion attracted interest from Manchester United, and angered many fans by going AWOL to France at a time when the Black Cats needed him most. Upon returning, Bellion claimed he had been visiting his sick grandmother, and made himself temporarily unavailable for selection, claiming he was "mentally unfit" to be playing in a relegation battle. At the time, speculation was rife that Bellion had been "tapped up" by United, although Manchester United and Bellion's agent firmly denied this. Despite this, Bellion agreed a move to the "Red Devils" after his contract expired in June 2003, although the transfer was not without controversy. As Bellion was under the age of 23, Sunderland were eligible for compensation, and a fee of £2 million, rising to £3 million depending on appearances, was agreed out of court. The fee was agreed on the basis that Sunderland chairman Bob Murray signed a "confidentiality agreement" and did not launch a complaint against Manchester United over the alleged "tapping up" of Bellion, after former Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein claimed Bellion had been offered to Arsenal by his agent illegally,^{[citation needed]} and that United had been paying for Bellion's mobile phone bills whilst still at Sunderland.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Manchester United

Bellion moved to Old Trafford in August 2003 and scored on his debut against Celtic on the club's pre-season American tour. His first competitive goal came at Leeds United in the League Cup,^[2] and the striker scored two more goals in the 2003–04 season – against Everton^[3] and Tottenham Hotspur,^[4] both at Old Trafford.

Despite a smattering of early-season goals against Norwich City^[5] and Bolton Wanderers,^[6] the 2004–05 campaign proved equally frustrating for Bellion as he found himself increasingly frozen out of the first team picture. A fruitful spell in the Reserves followed, but Bellion's season was curtailed in early May when he suffered a fractured fibula against Charlton Reserves. Bellion spent time on loan at West Ham United at the beginning of the 2005–06 season, returning to Sunderland for the first time as an unused substitute for the Hammers in October 2005, where he was booed whilst warming up. He scored on his debut, a League Cup win over Sheffield Wednesday on 20 September 2005,^[7] and went on to make ten appearances for the club, mostly as substitute.

[edit] Nice

He returned to France on 9 January 2006, joining Ligue 1 side Nice, a loan until the end of the season that was made a permanent move in June 2006.

[edit] Bordeaux

Bellion joined Bordeaux on 15 July 2007, signing a four-year deal. He marked his first match by scoring the only goal in Bordeaux's 1–0 win over Lens.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• David Bellion career stats at Soccerbase