Pennant: Jermaine Lloyd (Jermaine)

2003-2004 (Player Details)

Right Midfield

Born: Nottingham: 15-01-1983

Debut: v Tottenham Hotspur (a): 23-08-2003

5’8” 10 st 1lb (2007)

Pennant began his career at Notts County but was snapped up by Arsenal on 14th January 1999 at the age of fifteen. The fee of £2 million was a new record for a trainee. He had a glittering honour-strewn early career representing England at Schoolboy and Youth level. The midfielder made his Arsenal debut aged just sixteen in a League Cup match against Middlesbrough on 20th November 1999. It made him Arsenal's youngster ever player to that point, although this record was later broken by Cesc Fabregas. The young Pennant had to wait until August 2002 for his League debut when he came on as a substitute against West Ham United. His first league start against Southampton in May 2003 saw him score a hat-trick. Unfortunately for the young wideman these were to be his only goals for ‘The Gunners’ as he failed to hold down a place in Arsene Wenger's side. All the while he was making quite an impression on the international scene. Despite occasional disciplinary problems, he managed to accrue twenty-four England Under-Twenty-one caps, putting him in the all-time top ten for appearances. Arsene Wenger was a master at buying potiental and turning it into full-fledged professional footballers. Unfortunately Wenger couldn't handle the rebellious Pennant, who was discovering the bright lights of London, and lost patience with him after his constantly turning up late for training and a string of indiscipline. A member of the successful Arsenal Youth Cup Winners in 2001 and of the Arsenal team that lifted the Charity Shield in 2004, he only played twenty-six games for Arsenal despite that blistering start when he scored a hat-trick on full debut. Those three goals turned out to be his only goals for the club. Pennant was shipped out to other clubs in an effort to gain vital experience. In January 2002 he was loaned to Watford where he made nine starts and scored twice. He returned to Watford for a further loan period in November of that year, playing a further thirteen games without adding to his goal tally. After his intial games with Arsenal, on 20th August 2003 he joined Leeds on loan and was so successful that his loan contract kept getting extended and he completed a full season with them. He became a firm crowd favourite for his always entertaining style and with James Milner was one of the few bright spots in a dismal relegation season for Leeds. He was one of many loan stars obtained by Leeds, but he proved to be the only success. He returned to Arsenal but one start and six games from the bench showed that he was on the far peripherals of Wenger’s plans and so he joined Birmingham City on loan at the end of January 2005, making twelve appearances before the season’s end. Birmingham were sufficiently impressed to pay £3 million for him on 1st July 2005. He had been on loan at Birmingham since January 2005 and during this time he turned in some impressive performances, but also served 30 days in jail for driving under the influence with a suspended licence. After his rehabilitation he came back to turn on more scintillating performances at St Andrew’s, scoring twice and making thirty-five starts and three substitute appearances for the Blues. Despite all of his effort and success at making openings for others, Birmingham were relegated, and another transfer was inevitable if he was to further his career. Liverpool’s Rafa Benitez decided to gamble on Pennant as he was still young and might be able to mature enough to star for his boyhood favourites. He paid £6.7 million for the potentially brilliant young right winger. In the contract which tied Pennant to Anfield for four years, there were provisions for incentives which could mean a final fee of up to £8 million and Arsenal were entitled to 25% as a consequence of the contract when he moved to St Andrew’s. The move was seen as an ideal opportunity for the youngster to establish himself as an England international after years of showing great promise. Pennant grew stronger as his debut season for the Reds progressed, but there was still room for improvement in terms of making openings for others and his own goalscoring. He scored only one goal in his first season at Anfield, albeit a tremendous effort against Chelsea in a 2-0 League victory. He was a player of tremendous potiental who would someday hopefully show his bag of tricks more consistantly. Although approaching the hundred mark in overall appearances, he was used often as an impact substitute. He was a member of the Liverpool team that won the 2006 Charity Shield and was Runner-up in the 2006-07 ECL. He was in impessive form in the latter part of 2006-07 and the start of 2007-08 as Liverpool topped the EPL and thought to be on the verge of the England team, until injuries sidelined him. As Liverpool struggled to regain their good early season form following the international break, Pennant too could not maintain his form. On 18th September 2007, Pennant was sent off against FC Porto in Liverpool's opening Champions League match of the season. This seemed to signal the end for Pennant at Anfield as he fell totally out of favour. On 20th January 2009, he left Liverpool to join Portsmouth on loan for the rest of the season. At Fratton Park he made nine League starts and a further four games from the bench and made one start in the F.A. Cup. On his return, Pennant was not offered a new contract by Liverpool at its expiration at the end of June. At Anfield he scored three League goalsin thirty-six starts and nineteen games from the bench. He also started three F.A. Cup ties, three League Cup ties and started twelve and came off the bench in eight more games mostly in European Competotion, without scoring. On 9th July 2009, now a free agent, Pennant passed a medical and signed a three year contract with Real Zaragoza. He made his La Liga debut against Tenerife in the opening game of the season on 29th August 2009 and has featured in all games to date in Real's fine start to the season. However he found it hard to learn Spanish and as Real lost form and struggled his form suffered. His old traits reappeared and he was late for training several times which resulted in him being disciplined. He has played twenty-five games, of which twelve were as a substitute without scoring. A vastly talented footballer, Pennant is illiterate.