Ismaël Bennacer

Ismaël Bennacer (French pronunciation: [ismaɛl benasɛʁ]; Arabic: إسماعيل بن ناصر, romanized: ʼIsmāʻīl bin Nāṣir; Arabic pronunciation: [ʔismaːʕiːl bin naːsˁir]; born 1 December 1997) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Serie A club AC Milan. Born in France, he plays for the Algeria national team.

Ismaël Bennacer
Bennacer with AC Milan in 2022
Personal information
Full name Ismaël Bennacer[1]
Date of birth (1997-12-01) 1 December 1997[2]
Place of birth Arles, France
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)[2]
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 AC Milan
Number 4
Youth career
2004–2015 Arles
2015–2017 Arsenal
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014–2015 Arles B 16 (0)
2014–2015 Arles 6 (0)
2015–2017 Arsenal 0 (0)
2016–2017 → Tours (loan) 16 (1)
2017–2019 Empoli 76 (2)
2019– AC Milan 111 (5)
International career‡
2015 France U18 4 (1)
2015–2016 France U19 7 (1)
2016– Algeria 46 (2)
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  Algeria
Africa Cup of Nations
Winner2019 Egypt
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 15:21, 6 May 2023 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 23:06, 27 March 2023 (UTC)

At club level, Bennacer has represented teams in France, England and Italy throughout his career. At international level, he made his senior debut for Algeria in 2016, and has since represented his nation at three editions of the Africa Cup of Nations; he was a member of the team that won the 2019 edition, and was named the player of the tournament.

Club career

Early career

After starting his career with French club Arles,[3] Bennacer signed for Premier League side Arsenal in July 2015.[4] He made his senior Arsenal debut in the League Cup fourth round away to Sheffield Wednesday on 27 October 2015, replacing Theo Walcott after 19 minutes, after the latter had already replaced the injured Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in an eventual 3–0 loss.[5]

On 31 January 2017, it was announced that Bennacer would join Ligue 2 side Tours on loan for the remainder of the 2016–17 season.[6] He scored his first goal for Tours on 14 April 2017 against Sochaux from a free kick.[7]

Ismael Bennacer playing for AC Milan

On 21 August 2017, Bennacer joined Italian club Empoli.[8] In the 2017–18 Serie B season, Bennacer made 39 appearances and scored 2 goals as Empoli won the Serie B title, earning promotion to Serie A.[9][10] Despite Empoli's relegation the following season, Bennacer's performances confirmed his status as one of the most promising young midfielders in Europe.[10]

2019–20 season

On 4 August 2019, AC Milan announced they had signed Bennacer from Empoli for a reported transfer fee of €16 million plus bonuses. He underwent his medical on 23 July and signed a five-year contract, with a reported salary of €1.5 million per season.[11] He made his club debut on 25 August, coming on as a second–half substitute in a 1–0 away defeat to Udinese in Serie A;[12][13] his home and full–debut came on 31 August, in a 1–0 victory over Brescia.[13][14] On 18 July 2020, he scored his first goal for the club and in the Italian top flight in a 5–1 home win over Bologna in Serie A.[15]

2020–21 season

Bennacer played 30 matches in all competitions,[16] helping Milan to finish second in league table.

2021–22 season

Already a regular on Pioli's side, Bennacer form generated much praise from Italian pundits, showing dominating performance against the likes of Inter and Napoli.[17][18]

On 23 October 2021, as Milan was drawing 2–2 against Bologna, Bennacer scored the third goal in an eventual 4–2 win.[19] On 19 March 2022, Bennacer scored a screamer from outside the box against Cagliari, helping his team to win 1–0 and stay on the top of league table.[20] For the first time in a single Serie A season, Bennacer has scored more than once.[21] Bennacer won the league title with AC Milan on 22 May 2022 with a 0-3 win at U.S. Sassuolo Calcio. It was his first trophy with the club.

2022–23 season

On 12 January 2023, Bennacer extended his contract until 30 June 2027.[22] Bennacer scored his first goal in the UEFA Champions League on 12 April 2023, scoring the only goal in a 1–0 win over Napoli in the first leg of the quarter finals.[23] In May 2023, Bennacer sustained an injury to his right knee while in training and had a surgery, which forced him to miss the final five games of the season as well as ruled him out of the first half of the upcoming season.[24]

International career

Although he had previously represented France at youth level, on 31 July 2016, the Algerian Football Federation announced that Bennacer had opted to switch his international allegiance and represent Algeria internationally.[25] He debuted for the Algeria national team in a 2017 Africa Cup of Nations Qualifier, a 6–0 win over Lesotho.[26] Bennacer was called up on 11 January 2017 to Algeria's squad for the African Cup of Nations of 2017[27] to replace Saphir Taïder, who suffered an injury in training.[28]

At the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, Bennacer helped Algeria to their first title in 29 years, finishing the competition as the joint-top assist provider, alongside Franck Kessié, with three assists, including one for Baghdad Bounedjah's match-winning goal against Senegal in the final on 19 July.[29][30][31] He was later voted both the "Best Young Player" and the "Best Player" of the tournament.[32][33][34]

Style of play

A dynamic, tenacious, energetic, diminutive, and versatile left-footed player, who is regarded as a highly promising prospect in modern football, Bennacer is capable of playing in several midfield roles, and has been used as a deep-lying playmaker in a holding role in midfield, as an attacking midfielder, or as a central offensive-minded midfielder, known as the mezzala role in Italian football. His main characteristics are his speed, vision, intelligence, composure, dribbling skills, passing, and technique; he is also known for his ability to transition from defence into attack.[35][36][37]

Personal life

Bennacer was born in Arles, France, to a Moroccan father and an Algerian mother. He is a muslim. [38]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 10 May 2023[9]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup League cup Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Arles-Avignon II 2013–14 CFA 2 20————20
2014–15 140————140
Total 160————160
Arles-Avignon 2014–15 Ligue 2 601100——71
Arsenal 2015–16 Premier League 00001000—10
Tours (loan) 2016–17 Ligue 2 1610000——161
Empoli 2017–18 Serie B 39200———392
2018–19 Serie A 37010———380
Total 762100000—772
Milan 2019–20 Serie A 31140———351
2020–21 21000—9[lower-alpha 1]0—300
2021–22 31230—6[lower-alpha 2]0—402
2022–23 28210—10[lower-alpha 2]11[lower-alpha 3]0403
Total 11158000251101456
Career total 2258101102511026210
  1. Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  2. Appearances in UEFA Champions League
  3. Appearance in Supercoppa Italiana

International
As of match played 27 March 2023[39]
Algeria
YearAppsGoals
201610
201730
201830
2019150
202031
202171
2022120
202320
Total462
Scores and results list Algeria's goal tally first.
List of international goals scored by Ismaël Bennacer
No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.13 October 2020Cars Jeans Stadion, The Hague, Netherlands Mexico1–12–2Friendly
2.12 October 2021Stade Général Seyni Kountché, Niamey, Niger Niger3–04–02022 FIFA World Cup qualification

Honours

Empoli[9]

AC Milan

Algeria

Individual

References
  1. "Algeria" (PDF). Confederation of African Football. 15 June 2019. p. 1. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  2. "Ismael Bennacer: Overview". Premier League. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  3. "ISMAËL BENNACER IS A NEW AC MILAN PLAYER". A.C. Milan. 4 August 2019. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
  4. Sanderson, Jamie (29 July 2015). "Arsenal 'complete transfer of AC Arles-Avignon star Ismael Bennacer'". Metro. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
  5. "Sheffield Wednesday 3-0 Arsenal". BBC Sport. 27 October 2015. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  6. "Ismael Bennacer joins Tours on loan". www.arsenal.com. Arsenal Media Group. Retrieved 14 February 2017.
  7. "Tours en route pour le maintien (3-1 contre Sochaux), Orléans replonge à Nîmes (0-2)". Magcentre.fr (in French).
  8. "Arsenal youngster Bennacer joins Empoli". Yahoo.com. 21 August 2017. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
  9. Ismaël Bennacer at Soccerway. Retrieved 10 October 2017.
  10. Milan, A. C. "FOCUS: ISMAËL BENNACER". AC Milan. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
  11. Football Italia Staff (4 August 2019). "Official: Bennacer Joins Milan". Football Italia. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
  12. "Udinese vs. AC Milan - Football Match Summary - August 25, 2019 - ESPN". ESPN.com. 25 August 2019. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
  13. Triolo, Daniele (1 September 2019). "Bennacer impressiona: il Milan ha trovato un faro a centrocampo" (in Italian). Pianeta Milan. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
  14. "AC Milan vs. Brescia - Football Match Summary - August 31, 2019 - ESPN". ESPN.com. 31 August 2019. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
  15. "Match report AC Milan 5-1 Bologna, Serie A 2019/2020". AC Milan. 18 July 2020. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
  16. "I.Bennacer". SOCCERWAY. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
  17. Fisher, Oliver. "MN: Bennacer dominates Inter midfield in the derby". sempremilan. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  18. Moller, Isak. "Ambrosini praises Bennacer amid recent success". sempremilan. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  19. "Empoli 2-4 AC Milan, Serie A 2021/2022: the match report". ACMILAN. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
  20. "Cagliari 0-1 ACMILANL: Ismael Benncer restores three-point lead". BBC. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
  21. "CAGLIARI V AC MILAN: ALL OF THE NUMBERS FROM THE GAME". acmilan. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  22. "Ismaël Bennacer renews his contract with AC Milan: the official statement". AC Milan. 14 March 2023. Retrieved 14 March 2023.
  23. Media, P. A. (12 April 2023). "Ismaël Bennacer earns hard-fought win for Milan over 10-man Napoli". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 13 April 2023.
  24. "Milan's Bennacer out for six months after knee surgery". Reuters. 16 May 2023. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
  25. Toufik O. (31 July 2016). "Bennacer (Arsenal) choisit officiellement l'Algérie" (in French). DZfoot. Retrieved 31 July 2016.
  26. "CAN 2017 : Algérie 6-0 Lesotho" (in French). DZfoot. 4 September 2016.
  27. "Arsenal midfielder Ismael Bennacer handed shock call up to Algeria's Africa Cup of Nations squad". Metro.co.uk. 11 January 2017.
  28. M-A-D (11 January 2017). "CAN 2017 : Ismael Bennacer remplace Taider" (in French). DZfoot. Retrieved 11 January 2017.
  29. "Algeria celebrate second Afcon title after beating Senegal". BBC Sport. 19 July 2019.
  30. "AC Milan snap up Algeria's Africa Cup star Bennacer". The Score. 4 August 2019. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
  31. Otieno, Imran (20 July 2019). "Top Assists charts at the 2019 African Cup of Nations". futaa.com. Archived from the original on 3 May 2022. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
  32. @CAF_Online (19 July 2019). "Pulling the strings from midfield like a boss Ismaël Bennacer is the #TotalAFCON2019 best player" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  33. Ames, Nick (24 July 2019). "Africa Cup of Nations: Bennacer dazzles, Ziyech disappoints on transfer stage". ESPN FC. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
  34. Otieno, Imran (20 July 2019). "AFCON Player of the Tournament and Best Young Player are announced". www.futaa.com. Archived from the original on 25 April 2022. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
  35. Wayne Girard (3 April 2019). "Bennacer, football's artist". Football Italia. Retrieved 5 April 2019.
  36. Benedetto Ferrara (2 March 2018). "Talento Bennacer dribbling e gol lo manda l'Arsenal" (in Italian). La Repubblica. Retrieved 5 April 2019.
  37. Wilson, Sam (18 July 2019). "Milan should be excited by Empoli pair". Football Italia. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
  38. Chaillou, Clément. "CAN 2019: qui est Bennacer, la révélation de l'Algérie?". RMC (in French). Retrieved 26 September 2020.
  39. Ismaël Bennacer at National-Football-Teams.com
  40. "Milan secure 1st Serie A title in 11 years". News18 India. 22 May 2022. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
  41. "Algeria hold on against Senegal to win Afcon". BBC Sport. 19 July 2019.
  42. Kappel, David (21 July 2019). "Caf Announces Afcon Team of The Tournament". www.soccerladuma.co.za. Archived from the original on 7 June 2020. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
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