Danon Issouf Johannes Djourou Gbadjere (; born 18 January 1987), known as Johan Djourou, is a Swiss former professional footballer who played as a centre back. According to his profile on the website of his former club Arsenal, Djourou possesses "pace, power and whole-hearted commitment" in addition to his versatility. He played as a defensive midfielder in his youth for former club Étoile Carouge, but when he arrived at Arsenal, he was converted to a central defender. He occasionally filled in at full back for Arsenal and played several games in central midfield while on loan to Birmingham City. He spent time on loan at Hannover 96 in 2013 before joining fellow Bundesliga team Hamburger SV, initially on loan, later that year. After three years with Hamburg he went on to play for Turkish Super Lig club Antalyaspor, SPAL of Serie A, the Swiss Super League's Sion and Neuchâtel Xamax, and finally Nordsjælland in the Danish Superliga. Djourou represented Switzerland from 2006 to 2018, earning 76 caps. He was called up by the nation at three FIFA World Cups and two UEFA European Championships. Club career Early career Djourou was born in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, to Ivorian parents Joachim and Angeline, and was later adopted by his father's first wife, Danièle, a Swiss woman. Djourou later acknowledged that he has two mothers in his life. They moved to Geneva when he was 17 months old. According to his father, Djourou began playing football when he was baby, saying: "I would grab balls in stores and play football in the store." Djourou enrolled at the Payerne Training Center when he was 13 and then, in 2002, Djourou joined local second division side Étoile Carouge as a midfielder at 15. He joined Arsenal on 1 August 2003. Arsenal Djourou made his first senior start for Arsenal in a 3–1 victory against Everton in the League Cup, having made his first appearance after 89 minutes of the corresponding match in the previous round against Manchester City on 27 October 2004. He later made three appearances at the end of the 2004–05 season. On 21 January 2005, Djourou signed a two-year contract extension with the club. His first appearance of the 2005–06 season came on 29 November 2005 against Reading in the Round of 16 of the League Cup, starting the whole game, in a 3–0 win. He then played in the third round