André-Pierre Christian Gignac (born 5 December 1985) is a French professional footballer who plays as a striker.
Gignac began his professional career in his native Bouches-du-Rhône, where he played for local clubs Fos-sur-Mer and Martigues. In 2002, he moved to Brittany to join professional club Lorient. He spent two seasons with the club, including a loan spell with amateur side Pau.
In 2007, Gignac joined Toulouse under controversial circumstances. Following an initially difficult period, he emerged as one of Ligue 1's leading strikers during the 2008–09 season, finishing as the league's top scorer with 24 goals. After a less successful 2009–10 campaign, Gignac joined defending champions Marseille.
During his time with Marseille, Gignac won two consecutive Coupe de la Ligue titles and the Trophée des Champions. Following the expiration of his contract, he moved to Mexico to join Tigres UANL, where he won five Primera División titles over the course of eleven years. He established himself as one of the league's most prolific goalscorers, winning the top-scorer award on three occasions. He became the club's all-time leading scorer across all competitions and ranks among the top ten all-time goalscorers in Mexico's top division.
Gignac was a France international from 2009 to 2016. He made his debut with the team in April 2009 against Lithuania as a result of his good form with Toulouse. He scored his first international goal five months later against the Faroe Islands. Gignac made his first major international appearance for his country at the 2010 FIFA World Cup, featuring in all three matches the team contested. He also represented his country at UEFA Euro 2016, playing in several matches including the final, which France lost to Portugal after extra time.
Early life Gignac was born in the city of Martigues in Bouches-du-Rhône in southern France. Gignac is of partial Romani descent, but has stated he considers himself to be an adopted Manouche. He is the cousin of former defender Jacques Abardonado and winger Yohan Mollo.
Early career Gignac spent the first five years of his career at ES Fos-sur-Mer before joining hometown club Martigues. After almost seven years at Martigues, he was released after being informed he needed to bulk up. Subsequently, Gignac moved over to the Brittany region to join the youth academy of professional club Lorient. After developing in the club's academy for two seasons, Gignac was promoted to the club's senior team for the 2004–05 Ligue 2 season by manager Christian Gourcuff.
Club career Lorient Gignac made his professional debut with Lorient on 13 August 2004, coming on as a substitute in the 78th minute with the score tied 1–1 against Châteauroux. Within seconds of coming on, he scored the winning goal to bring Lorient a 2–1 victory. An elated Gignac later said after scoring the match-winning goal that he "thought he was Ronaldo". In subsequent matches, Gignac was minor presence within the team featuring primarily as a substitute. Gignac scored his only other goal in the season against Reims in a 4–1 victory on 29 October. The following week he made his first professional start, in a 2–1 defeat to Le Mans, playing 70 minutes.
Pau The following season, Lorient achieved promotion to Ligue 1, though without Gignac's services as he was loaned out to Championnat National club Pau during the winter transfer period. Prior to the loan, Gignac had appeared in only one match for the club in the season. At Pau, Gignac featured as a starter for the first time in his career. He appeared in 20 league matches for the club and scored eight goals. Notable appearances with the team included a double in a victory over Toulon and a hat-trick against Châtellerault. The week before the match against Châtellerault, Gignac scored the equalizing goal against Romorantin in a 1–1 draw.
Back to Lorient Gignac's newfound confidence saw the player return to Lorient senior team for the 2006–07 Ligue 1 season where he was inserted as starter. Initially, he began the season as a substitute, appearing as a replacement in the first three league matches. In the team's fourth league match against Derby Breton rivals Nantes, Gignac started the match and repaid manager Gourcuff by converting a hat-trick in 27 minutes in a 3–1 victory. On 4 November 2006, he scored the match-winning goal away to Marseille and, in December, scored goals in back-to-back matches against Sedan and Auxerre. Gignac finished the campaign with 37 appearances in the league and nine goals, a club best.
Toulouse 2007–08 season
On 25 June 2007, it was announced Gignac had signed a four-year deal with Toulouse. However, it was revealed soon after that Lorient had accepted a €4.5 million bid from Lille and that the player had already agreed to a pre-contract with the Northern side, putting his move to Toulouse in jeopardy. Despite this, Toulouse trumped Lille's offer by offering the player more than double the salary he had been offered by Lille. The clubs entered a war of words, with Toulouse questioning the legitimacy of Lille's agreement while Gignac and Lille questioned the ethics and tactics of Toulouse. Eventually, Gignac's move to Toulouse was validated.
Gignac made his competitive debut for Toulouse in the first leg of the club's UEFA Champions League third qualifying round match against Liverpool, coming on as a substitute in the 65th minute. Toulouse lost the match 1–0 and conceded the two-legged tie 5–0 on aggregate, thus being eliminated from the Champions League. On 4 October 2007, after coming on as a substitute for Swedish striker Johan Elmander, Gignac scored a last-minute goal against Bulgarian club CSKA Sofia to cancel out Nei's opening goal from the penalty spot and enable Toulouse to progress to the group stages of the UEFA Cup on the away goals rule. Despite the hype, both Gignac and Toulouse had disappointing 2007–08 seasons, with Gignac appearing in 28 matches and scoring only two goals. Toulouse finished the season in 17th place, just one place above the relegation zone. Some media outlets attributed Gignac's struggle for form to him playing second fiddle to Johan Elmander. Gignac also struggled with weight problems during the season.
2008–09 season
In the 2008–09 season, Gignac's form blossomed as he became first-choice striker following the departure of Johan Elmander to Bolton Wanderers. He scored his first goal of the season in Toulouse's second match, against Le Havre, with an 88th-minute strike to seal a 2–1 victory. Over the course of the season, Gignac scored several vital goals for his club, notably braces against Sochaux, Grenoble, Saint-Étienne, Marseille and twice against Nice, including his final two goals of the season. He overtook Johan Elmander (Toulouse's top scorer the season prior with 11 goals) during the 19th league match. In the events leading up to the 31st matchday, he was challenged by his coach Alain Casanova to score a goal with his left foot (weak foot). The coach promised to kiss his left foot in front of everyone if he scored with his left foot against Nantes in that match. Gignac practiced shooting with his left foot the entire week and in the match, he scored the only goal of the night with his left foot. For his efforts, he was awarded the UNFP Player of the Month award twice for September and March, nominated for the Ligue 1 Player of the Year Award (which was won by Yoann Gourcuff), selected to the Ligue 1 Team of the Year and received the league's top scorer award with 24 goals to his name.
2009–10 season Gignac switched to the number 10 shirt for the 2009–10 season and, on 14 August 2009, signed a one-year contract extension tying him to Toulouse until 2013. The extension signaled an end to rumours of a move during the fall transfer window, where the player had been linked with moves to fellow Ligue 1 club Lyon, English Premier League clubs Arsenal and Manchester United and Italian Serie A clubs Juventus and AC Milan.
Gignac scored his first goal of the season on 15 August 2009 in a 3–1 victory over Saint-Étienne. Five days later, he scored a brace in the first leg of the club's playoff round match against Turkish club Trabzonspor. The 3–1 result in the first leg was enough for Toulouse to reach the group stage of the competition where Gignac struck again, this time against Belgian side Club Brugge in a 2–2 draw. After going scoreless for seven weeks in the league, on 24 October, Gignac scored the second goal in the club's 2–0 away win over Lens. Two weeks later, Gignac scored the game-winning goal against Rennes. Two months later, he scored both goals in another 2–0 victory, this time against Sochaux. On 16 January 2010, Gignac provided the assists on all three goals scored by the club in its 3–1 win over Valenciennes. Despite being injured for the majority of the spring campaign, Gignac finished the season as the club's top scorer.
Gignac totalled 34 Ligue 1 goals for Toulouse, remaining their highest scorer in the league in the 21st century until September 2014, when his record was surpassed by Wissam Ben Yedder.
Marseille 2010–11 season On 20 August 2010, prior to the start of the press conference for new signing Loïc Rémy, Marseille club president Jean-Claude Dassier confirmed the club had reached a tentative agreement with Toulouse for the transfer of Gignac. Gignac underwent a medical the following day and signed a five-year contract. The transfer fee was undisclosed but was reported to be within the region of €16–18 million. Gignac was assigned the number 10 shirt and made his club debut nine days after signing in a league match against Bordeaux. He scored his first goal for the club two months later in a 1–1 draw with Saint-Étienne. On 3 November, Gignac scored a hat-trick in the 7–0 away win against Slovak club MŠK Žilina in a UEFA Champions League group stage match.
Gignac endured a rough patch for the majority of the season, which led to criticism from local media, club supporters and former club players, most notably Jean-Pierre Papin, who said Gignac's game had "become too predictable". Gignac admitted the criticism was justified and stated that "you will see the real Gignac in 2011". Following the winter break, Gignac attempted to live up to his declaration by scoring in the team's first league match in a 2–1 win over Bordeaux. Three days later, he scored the second goal in a 2–0 victory over Auxerre in the Coupe de la Ligue. The win sent Marseille to the competition's final match. On 5 February, he scored a goal in a win over Arles-Avignon and, in the following week, scored both goals in a 2–1 victory over Sochaux. He played the full 90 minutes in the 2011 Coupe de la Ligue final on 23 April, a 1–0 win over Montpellier.
2011–12 season Gignac was not named in the Marseille squad for the 2011 Trophée des Champions on 27 July, which they won 5–4 against Lille at the Stade de Tanger in Morocco. He was close to a move to English Premier League club Fulham during the transfer window, but this collapsed at the last moment as Marseille failed to bring in Amauri as a replacement. He was also offered as part of a failed bid for Sunderland's Asamoah Gyan. Gignac expressed frustration at the move to Fulham being called off.
On 26 November 2011, Gignac was relegated to Marseille's reserve squad. He made only six league starts during the season, and his only goal came in the penultimate match against Sochaux, when he came on in the 50th minute for Rémy and concluded a 3–0 home victory. He was an unused substitute on 14 April as Marseille won the 2012 Coupe de la Ligue final against Lyon.
2012–13 season
Despite Marseille finishing tenth in the league, their Coupe de la Ligue win earned them entry into the UEFA Europa League. In the third qualifying round, Gignac scored in each leg of a 4–1 aggregate victory over Turkish club Eskişehirspor.