Club Career
Petit was born in Dieppe, Seine-Maritime. He began his career at minor club ES Arques-la-Bataille, before being signed by Arsène Wenger's AS Monaco at the age of 18. He made his debut soon after and played in the 1989 French Cup final. Petit became a regular at Monaco, at left midfielder or centre midfielder; in 1991 he won the Cup with Monaco, and also played in the 1992 European Cup Winners' Cup final (which Monaco lost to Werder Bremen). In 1996–97, his final season at Monaco he captained his side to the Ligue 1 title.
Despite interest from Rangers, Petit joined Arsenal in June 1997 £2.5m, where he was reunited with his former Monaco manager, Arsène Wenger. Wenger switched Petit from central midfielder to defensive midfielder, and partnered him with fellow Frenchman Patrick Vieira. The French duo formed a midfield partnership which brought instant success, as Petit won the Double with Arsenal in his very first season, clinching both the Premier League title and the FA Cup. Altogether, in the three seasons in his Arsenal career, Petit made 118 appearances and scored 11 goals, including a stunning drive from outside the area against Derby County (which was also the winning goal), during the 1997–98 season.
Petit moved to FC Barcelona (together with Arsenal team-mate Marc Overmars) in the summer of 2000 for £7m (€14m). At Barcelona he was moved back into defence, and suffered a rash of niggling injuries; as a result, he failed to settle and could not hold down a regular place. In his biography published in 2008, the midfielder gave his time at Barcelona a special chapter, in which he exposed that coach Llorenç Serra Ferrer didn't even know what position he played when he joined the team.
After his 1st season in Camp Nou, he was linked with moves back to England with Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea. He moved back to England to sign for Chelsea in 2001 for £7,500,000. He initially was a first-team regular for the Blues in a largely disappointing debut season and played in the 2002 FA Cup Final which Chelsea lost to his old club, Arsenal. He scored his first goal for Chelsea in a 2–1 win over Derby County on 30 March 2002. His second season saw a significant improvement, as he formed an impressive midfield partnership with Frank Lampard as Chelsea impressed in the winner-takes-all final game of the season against Liverpool as Chelsea secured the 4th UEFA Champions League berth. He also scored twice throughout the season: against Everton in the League Cup and former club Arsenal in the league. However, after a series of knee injuries, he spent much of his final season of his career on the sidelines, and he was released on a free transfer in the summer of 2004, his final appearance for the club coming against Blackburn Rovers on 1 February 2004. When Chelsea released him Arsenal were going to resign him but they decided not to after having a closer look at his fitness. After spending six months looking for a new club, including a training stint with Bolton Wanderers, Petit announced his retirement on 20 January 2005, when he found out he required a knee operation and would probably never regain full fitness.
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