Jermaine Pennant Bio

Pennant's £6.7 million move to Liverpool in 2006 proved to be something of a redemption for a young player that had gone off the rails during his early career.

At the age of 15, and having barely kicked a ball for Notts County, Pennant moved to Arsenal in January 1999 in a multi-million pound deal and found instant fame.

Six years later and Pennant had barely made an impression at Highbury - on the pitch at least. His night time activities and poor attitude to training had left boss Arsene Wenger scratching his head.

The final straw came when he was arrested for drink driving. But it was not his first offence. Pennant was still banned after being caught a year earlier. Driving while disqualified led to a three-month jail term for Pennant.

Birmingham City manager Steve Bruce showed incredible faith in such a wayward character to give him a club to return to after his spell behind bars.

Following loans spells with Watford and Leeds United Pennant headed out to Birmingham City in 2005 with his court case pending. He made his debut for Blues in a 2-1 home win over Southampton, providing the perfect cross for fellow loanee Walter Pandiani to score.

However, Pennant was back in court on March 1 for sentencing - and he was sent to jail for three months. Birmingham vowed to stand by the player and confirmed their commitment to a permanent deal.

Pennant served one month of his sentence before being released. He was forced to wear an electronic tag for two weeks, which he also had to keep on during matches - becoming the first Premiership player to do so in the home match with Tottenham Hotspur.

Birmingham stayed true to their word over their desire to take him on a permanent basis, and by April 25 he had completed a move to the midlands in a deal worth up to £3million. Pennant signed a three-year contract with the option of a fourth.

Pennant played just 26 games for Arsenal, only 12 being starts, and scored just three goals.

Birmingham were relegated to the Championship in 2006 but Pennant's performances in the blue shirt were good enough to earn him a summer switch to Liverpool, the club he supported as a boy.

After impressing in pre-season, Pennant made his Liverpool debut against Maccabi Haifa in a Champions' League 3rd round qualifying match at Anfield and in January 2007 he scored his first goal for Liverpool in their 2-0 Premiership victory over Chelsea.

He enjoyed a relatively successful season, making 33 appearances and the boyhood reds fans was one of the best performers during the Champions League final defeat against AC Milan in Athens.

The following year he slipped down the pecking order at Anfield and faces a tough challenge to re-establish himself in the starting eleven.