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Jean-Alain Boumsong
Personal information
Full name	Jean-Alain Boumsong Somkong
Date of birth	December 14, 1979 (age 27)
Place of birth	Douala, Cameroon
Height	1.91 m
Nickname	"Un, deux, trois...BOUMSONG!"
Playing position	Defender
Club information
Current club	Juventus
Number	18
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1997–2000 2000–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–present	Le Havre AJ Auxerre Rangers Newcastle United Juventus	42 (1) 101 (3) 18 (2) 47 (0) 16 (1)
National team2
2003–present	France	21 (1)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 12:00, 17 February, 2007. 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 12:00, 11 October 2006. * Appearances (Goals)

Jean-Alain Boumsong (born December 14, 1979, in Cameroon) is a professional football defender who currently plays for Juventus and the French national team.

He started his career with French team Le Havre before joining AJ Auxerre

A long time target for then Liverpool F.C. manager Gérard Houllier, the press speculated that it was only a matter of time before Boumsong signed for Liverpool. However, as Boumsong was a free agent with no price to be paid to his club Auxerre, his agent, the Monaco based Scot Willie McKay negotiated the best sign-on fee to the player for Boumsong from Rangers, based in Glasgow, Scotland. The deal supposedly included a clause that, should Rangers sell Boumsong within a period of time (speculated as two years), that they would receive a large percentage of the sign-on fee returned.

As a result, Boumsong joined Alex McLeish at Rangers in 2004 and signed a five year contract. However, halfway through the 2004-05 season, Newcastle made an £8 million bid for him, which Rangers accepted in a deal that was finalized once the January 2005 transfer window opened. Boumsong signed a 5½-year contract with the Magpies. However, as Boumsong had played the requisite number of games for Rangers that season, he still received a Scottish Championship Winners Medal, despite having been a Newcastle player for around 5 months by the time Rangers won the title.

His first time at Newcastle was very good with solid performances at the back during the first six months. Although during a league game against Manchester United the following season he made two errors which cost Newcastle the game. After that game he never reached the previous levels of his earlier performances, leading many to question his £8 million price tag.

On 22 August 2006 Boumsong joined the recently Serie B relegated Juventus for a fee of €4.8 million (£3.26 million), with future incentives promised to Newcastle relating to Juventus' future performance. Juventus drew the very first match 1-1 in which he played, the goal was conceded due to Boumsong's error.^{[citation needed]} In September 2006 Boumsong scored his first Juventus goal in a game against Crotone where Juventus won 3-0. Valeri Bojinov scored the other two goals.

Boumsong made his France debut against Japan in 2003, and went with the squad for Euro 2004, although he only made a brief appearance coming on as a substitute in one game and tripping over his shoelaces

He established himself as a regular starter in the national team in the 2006 World Cup qualifiers, and was called up to the squad for the 2006 World Cup, but did not see any game action during the competition because of Lillian Thuram's return to the team.

	France squad - 2004 European Football Championship Quarter-finalists
1 Landreau | 2 Boumsong | 3 Lizarazu | 4 Vieira | 5 Gallas | 6 Makélélé | 7 Pirès | 8 Desailly | 9 Saha | 10 Zidane | 11 Wiltord | 12 Henry | 13 Silvestre | 14 Rothen | 15 Thuram | 16 Barthez | 17 Dacourt | 18 Pedretti | 19 Sagnol | 20 Trézéguet | 21 Marlet | 22 Govou | 23 Coupet | Coach: Santini

	France squad - 2006 FIFA World Cup Runners-up
1 Landreau | 2 Boumsong | 3 Abidal | 4 Vieira | 5 Gallas | 6 Makélélé | 7 Malouda | 8 Dhorasoo | 9 Govou | 10 Zidane | 11 Wiltord | 12 Henry | 13 Silvestre | 14 Saha | 15 Thuram | 16 Barthez | 17 Givet | 18 Diarra | 19 Sagnol | 20 Trézéguet | 21 Chimbonda | 22 Ribéry | 23 Coupet | Coach: Domenech