Early career 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.
Cerro Porteño 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.
Gençlerbirliği 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.
Real Madrid 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.
Chelsea . 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.
Newcastle United 2007–08 ´s teammate
Nicky Butt. 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.
2008–09 Geremi made his first appearances of the
2008–09 Premier League season appearing as a half time substitute in a 1–0 home win over Bolton on 23 August 2008. In September 2008, Newcastle found themselves under yet another new manager. As a result, Geremi's game time dropped over the course of the season, with the midfielder making 11 league starts without a goal and contributing only three assists. Newcastle was relegated at the end of the season, finishing one point from safety after losing their final game of the season against
Aston Villa. In the
2009–10 season, Geremi's minutes dropped even more dramatically, with only three league starts in the first five months of the season. He scored his third Newcastle goal – and first of the
2009–10 club season – in a
League Cup match against
Huddersfield Town on 26 August 2009. Geremi left Newcastle in the 2010 January transfer window to join Turkish club
MKE Ankaragücü. Shortly after, however, Newcastle said the deal had not been finalized and the player remained at Newcastle. On transfer deadline day, 1 February, Newcastle finally agreed to terms and Geremi went to Turkey on a new 18-month deal.
Ankaragücü On 31 January 2010, Geremi's transfer to Ankaragücü of the
Süper Lig was announced; he signed a one-and-a-half-year contract with the Turkish club.
AEL On 25 August 2010, Geremi moved to
Super League Greece club
AEL on a two-year contract. On 11 January 2011, it was announced on the official site of Larissa that the contract had been terminated. ==International career==