Geremi Sorele Njitap Fotso (born 20 December 1978), known simply as Geremi, is a Cameroonian former professional footballer. He was a versatile player able to play at right-back, right midfield or defensive midfielder, known for his power, pace, combative style and free-kick ability.
The most successful periods of Geremi's club career came at Real Madrid and Chelsea, winning the UEFA Champions League with the first and domestic honours with the latter.
Geremi earned 118 caps for Cameroon from 1996 to 2010, scoring 13 goals. He was a member of their squad for seven Africa Cup of Nations tournaments, winning in 2000 and 2002, as well as the World Cup in 2002 and 2010, and a gold medal at the 2000 Olympics.
Geremi was born in Bafoussam, Cameroon. Raised in a footballing family, Geremi was encouraged to remain focused on school by his father, a former player. But as duties for his club and national teams pulled him away from his studies, he eventually decided to pursue his playing career. Geremi gave up on studying for his university entrance exams and began playing professionally.
Geremi began his career with a local side in Bafoussam, Racing FC, in 1995. A first-division club in Cameroon's MTN Elite One, Racing had won the league championship the year before 16-year-old Geremi arrived. In his only season as a professional at the club, he won the Cameroonian Cup.
In 1996, Geremi received an offer from Cerro Porteño, which he took, after being scouted whilst playing for the Cameroon U21 national team in Brazil. Before Geremi arrived at Cerro Porteño, agent Pedro Aldave picked between Samuel Eto'o and Geremi to go to Paraguay and join the Asunción club. Geremi was 18 when he arrived at the club.
In 1997, Geremi was teammates with compatriot Cyrille Florent Bella, the Uruguayan Ricardo Bitancort, Brazilian Felippe Ximenes, and Paraguayans Diego Gavilán, Jorge Martín Núñez, Paulo da Silva, Aldo Bobadilla and Roberto Fernández in Cerro Porteño's team. Geremi was the star of the title decider in Paraguay's 1997 Apertura Tournament, which Cerro Porteño lost.
He only disputed one tournament with Cerro Porteño during six months at the club, reportedly not adapting to Paraguayan football. Six months was enough for him to jump to European football. Geremi mentioned that in Paraguay he was too far from his family and wished to go to European football. He received an offer from Turkey, and immediately signed.
Geremi spent two seasons in Turkey with Gençlerbirliği, racking up 57 appearances, before a move to Real Madrid materialised for him. In Geremi's first season at Gençlerbirligi in 1997/98, he was teammates with compatriot Tobie Mimboe, who was also a footballer at Cerro Porteño before this.
In his three years at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, Geremi won two Champions League winners medals with the Spanish giants. He scored two goals whilst at Madrid; his first was a late winner in a 2000 FIFA Club World Championship tie against Raja Casablanca after his side had been reduced to eight men. His second came against Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals of the 2001–02 UEFA Champions League. At Real Madrid, Geremi was nominated for the Ballon d'Or of 2000. In a tribute to Geremi, four years after he left the club, former Real Madrid coach Vicente del Bosque told Spanish newspaper Marca, that Njitap and Steve McManaman were the two most important players in his squad, because "together they kept the whole team united".
Seeking more regular football, Geremi moved to Middlesbrough for the 2002–03 season on a season-long loan from Real Madrid, where he enjoyed a successful season.
In 2003, a sentence from FIFA obliged Cerro Porteño to pay Geremi US$450,000.
After an impressive FIFA Confederations Cup campaign with Cameroon, Chelsea paid Real Madrid £6.9 million for him in July 2003, and he went on to have an excellent first season at Stamford Bridge. Although towards the end of his career at Chelsea, under José Mourinho he was played less regularly and when he was played he was put in his unpreferred position of right-back. Geremi, however, was held in high regard by Mourinho. During an interview, he said about Geremi, "In my team I love to have Geremi on the bench because he's a low-profile player who is ready to help, ready to fight for the team, ready to do the job I want him to do. If I need him to play right-back, he can play right-back. If I need him to play right-winger, he can play right-winger. If I need him to pick up a man and mark him out of the game, he does it." In his final year at Chelsea, Geremi scored the winning goal in a home match against West Ham United, a long-range free-kick. This turned out to be his last goal in a Chelsea shirt. His final appearance for Chelsea came against Liverpool in the Champions League semi-final second leg, which went to penalties. Geremi came on as an extra-time substitute and went on to have his penalty saved by Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina, and Chelsea ultimately lost.
During his time at Chelsea, the club won the Premier League in both 2004–05 and 2005–06, and Geremi was eligible for a winners' medal both seasons as he made 13 and 15 appearances respectively.
Geremi signed for Newcastle United on 6 July 2007 on a three-year deal, making him the fourth signing of the summer by manager Sam Allardyce. He was appointed club captain for the 2007–08 season by then manager Allardyce, but lost the armband after new manager Kevin Keegan awarded the captaincy to Michael Owen on 20 January 2008.
Geremi made his Newcastle debut on the opening day of the 2007–08 FA Premier League season in a 3–1 away win over Bolton Wanderers, going on to start the next six games for Newcastle before being an unused substitute in the League Cup third round defeat at Arsenal.
In January 2008, Geremi departed for the 2008 African Cup of Nations with Cameroon. He returned to Newcastle in February after Cameroon finished as runners-up. His first game since returning was on 23 February in a 5–1 away defeat to Manchester United. His first start since returning came on 17 March 2008 in a 1–1 draw away at Birmingham City.
Geremi scored his first goal for Newcastle in a 4–1 victory over Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane on 30 March with a well-taken free-kick and the second a header in the 2–2 draw at Upton Park on 26 April against West Ham. Geremi made 27 league appearances for Newcastle United during his first season at the club, starting 24 of the 27 league games and scoring on two occasions, with five assists.