PROFILE | Benjamin André: A cult hero finally getting deserved recognition | OneFootball

This profile is taken from the 2022 GFFN 100, Get Football’s leading publication to be released at the end of the month, counting down French football’s 100 best players in 2022.

As its star names come and go – young talent emerging before being tempted away and ageing names looking for a nice Indian summer at a Riviera club or a final PSG-backed payday – Ligue 1 continues to be carried along by the unsung heroes who rarely attract headlines but create a place in the true fans’ hearts. A Sebastien Puygrenier here, a Yann Jouffre there – talented players who become cult heroes but are unheard of outside France. Perhaps the leading figure in this cast is Benjamin André.

Now 32 and in his 15th season as a professional – only the first three of which were spent outside the French top flight – Andre is a hero not only to supporters of his three French clubs – AC Ajaccio, Rennes and current club Lille – but to all Ligue 1 fans. Quiet and unassuming but a leader on the pitch, André – predominantly a defensively-minded central midfielder – has played in every position on the pitch – even, on one occasion, centre forward – to serve his teams.

Although helping Ajaccio to promotion to Ligue 1 early in his career, it is in recent years that he has achieved the success and recognition that he deserves, first captaining Rennes to victory over PSG in the Coupe de France final in 2019 (having scored a rare goal against Lyon in the semi-final); then making 35 starts and being a crucial part of the Lille team that won the title in 2020/21. His performances earned him a place in the UNFP team of the season and an unsuccessful social-media-backed campaign for him to be picked for France.

Last season was inevitably tough for Lille as they dealt with a new status, a changed team, a new coach and the additional challenge of the Champions League, but Andre maintained his high standards and in 2022 helped the team to a narrow last 16 Champions League defeat to Chelsea and a just-about-satisfactory 10th place finish – at one point filling in at centre-back for the cause.

This season began with André scoring Lille’s first goal of the season within one minute of kick-off and he has missed just one match as Les Dogues, with another changed squad and another change of coach, have recovered from a shaky start to reach the mid-season break in a seventh place which doesn’t reflect the quality of Lille’s football, built around the stability and balance provided in the centre of the pitch by André. As André reaches the twilight of his career, his modest star continues to shine brightly.