Carl Medjani ( ar, كارل مجاني; born 15 May 1985) is a professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

defensive midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. He spent most of his career in France, his country of birth, while representing the Algeria national team at international level.

Club career

Liverpool

After spending his youth development years at

Saint-Étienne Saint-Étienne (; frp, Sant-Etiève; oc, Sant Estève, ) is a city and the prefecture of the Loire department in eastern-central France, in the Massif Central, southwest of Lyon in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. Saint-Étienne is the t ...

he was signed by

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

's manager

Gérard Houllier Gérard Paul Francis Houllier (; 3 September 194714 December 2020) was a French professional football manager and player. Clubs he managed include Paris Saint-Germain, Lens and Liverpool, where he won the FA Cup, League Cup, FA Charity Shield, U ...

in August 2003. Liverpool beat off stiff competition from Premiership rivals

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

and German giants

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), also known as FC Bayern (), Bayern Munich, or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional men's football team, which pla ...

to secure his services. In an interview with

L'Équipe ''L'Équipe'' (, French for "the team") is a French nationwide daily newspaper devoted to sport, owned by Éditions Philippe Amaury. The paper is noted for coverage of association football, rugby football, rugby, motorsport, and cycle sport, ...

, Medjani revealed he left Saint-Étienne because he was willing to stay if given an opportunity with the first team but his request was turned down by Manager

Frédéric Antonetti Frédéric Antonetti (born 19 August 1961) is a French professional football manager and former player who was most recently the manager of French club Metz. He previously managed Bastia, Gamba Osaka, Saint-Étienne, Nice, Rennes and Lille. E ...

. Medjani then struggled to break in Liverpool first team so he was sent on loan to

Lorient Lorient (; ) is a town (''Communes of France, commune'') and Port, seaport in the Morbihan Departments of France, department of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in western France. History Prehistory and classical antiquity Beginn ...

for the whole 2004–05 season by new Liverpool manager

Rafael Benítez Rafael Benítez Maudes (born 16 April 1960) is a Spanish professional football manager and former player who most recently managed club Everton. Benítez joined Real Madrid's coaching staff at the age of 26, going on to work as the under-1 ...

, where he made 25 appearances. Despite impressing in the

Toulon Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...

under-20 tournament in summer 2005, Benítez deemed it necessary for him to gain more experience and so he spent 2005–06 on loan at

Metz Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand E ...

Lorient

At the start of the 2006–07 season, he rejoined Lorient, this time on a permanent basis.

Ajaccio

In the 2007–08 season, Medjani moved down to

Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by Balkrishna Industries, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions ...

joining

Ajaccio Ajaccio (, , ; French: ; it, Aiaccio or ; co, Aiacciu , locally: ; la, Adiacium) is a French commune, prefecture of the department of Corse-du-Sud, and head office of the ''Collectivité territoriale de Corse'' (capital city of Corsica). ...

for the remainder of the season. The 2008–09 season earned Medjani a permanent move with the club on a three-year deal. He soon made an immediate impact when he scored his first goal in the second round of

Coupe de la Ligue The Coupe de la Ligue (), known outside France as the French League Cup, was a Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in Football in France, French football organized by the Ligue de Football Professionnel. The tournament was est ...

during Ajaccio's 4–2 loss against

Montpellier Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of ...

. On 20 February 2009, Medjani came on as a substitute in the second half and 18 minutes into the game, he was sent off, along with Brahim Ferradj in the same minute, as Ajaccio drew 1–1 with

Brest Brest may refer to: Places *Brest, Belarus **Brest Region **Brest Airport **Brest Fortress *Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria *Břest, Czech Republic *Brest, France **Arrondissement of Brest **Brest Bretagne Airport ** Château de Brest *Brest, ...

. Medjani scored his first league goal of the season during Ajaccio's 3–1 defeat to

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...

. Following the 2009–10 season and the World Cup, Medjani was linked with Ligue 2 side

Nantes Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabita ...

. Ajaccio finished as runners-up in Ligue 2 resulting in their promotion to Ligue 1. Medjani signed a two-year contract extension until 2013. In the 2011–12 season, Medjani continued to be in the first team, either playing in centre back and defensive midfield. Medjani scored his first goal in a 3–1 loss against

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club (), commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain, Paris, Paris SG or simply PSG is a professional football club based in Paris, France. They compete in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. As Fr ...

on 16 October 2011. On 10 December 2012, Medjani made a mistake in the final minutes, allowing

Daniel Niculae Daniel George Niculae (; born 6 October 1982) is a former Romanian professional footballer who played mainly as a striker. Currently he is the president of Liga I club Rapid București. He has made 39 appearances for Romania since his debut ...

to score in a 2–2 draw against Nancy, in a match which could have ended Ajaccio thirteen games without winning. In April, he scored his second goal of the season, in a 1–1 draw against Saint-Étienne. Ahead of the 2012–13 season, Medjani expressed his desire to leave the club. In December, Medjani started to wear the captain's armband.

Monaco

In January 2013, just prior to the closing of the

transfer window A transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club can transfer players from other playing staff into their playing staff. Such a transfer is completed by registering the player into the new club through FIFA. "Transfer win ...

, Medjani joined

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

on a three and a half year contract from Ajaccio. Following Monaco promotion, Medjani was told by Manager

Claudio Ranieri Claudio Ranieri Grande Ufficiale OMRI (; born 20 October 1951) is an Italian football manager and former player. He will be the new head coach of club Cagliari from 1 January 2023. Ranieri began his managerial career in the lower leagues in It ...

that his first team appearances would be limited following the club's spending spree.

Loan spells

In July 2013, Medjani was sent out on loan to

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós ( el, Ολυμπιακός Σύνδεσμος Φιλάθλων Πειραιώς, Olympic Club of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number ...

from Monaco until 1 January 2014, with the option of a permanent move. After six months with few appearances at Olympiacos, he returned to his parent club. Upon his return to France, Monaco then loaned him out to

Valenciennes Valenciennes (, also , , ; nl, label=also Dutch, Valencijn; pcd, Valincyinnes or ; la, Valentianae) is a commune in the Nord department, Hauts-de-France, France. It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced a s ...

till the end of 2013–14 season. Following his loan spell at Valenciennes, his time at Monaco came to an end despite having two years of his contract left.

Trabzonspor

After leaving Monaco, Medjani was linked with a move to

Trabzonspor Trabzonspor Kulübü is a Turkish sports club located in the city of Trabzon. Formed in 1967 through a merger of several local clubs, the men's football team has won seven Süper Lig championships. Trabzonspor also have a women's football team, ...

and

Cagliari Calcio Cagliari Calcio, commonly referred to as Cagliari (), is an Italian football club based in Cagliari, Sardinia. In the 2022-23 season, they compete in Serie B. As of 2021–22, the team is temporarily playing their home games at the 16,416-seat ...

before joining Trabzonspor on a three-year contract. He scored his first goal for the club in the play-off round of the Europa League as Trabzonspor beat

Rostov Rostov ( rus, Росто́в, p=rɐˈstof) is a town in Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, one of the oldest in the country and a tourist center of the Golden Ring. It is located on the shores of Lake Nero, northeast of Moscow. Population: While t ...

2–0 in the first leg.

Levante and Leganés

On 30 January 2016,

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

side

Levante UD Levante Unión Deportiva, S.A.D. (, ca-valencia, Llevant Unió Esportiva ) is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club in Valencia, in the Valencian Community, namesake autonomous community. Founded on 9 September 1909, Levante ...

have signed Medjani until the end of the season, with an option to extend the contract for another season. On 25 July, after suffering relegation, he signed a one-year contract with

CD Leganés Club Deportivo Leganés, S.A.D. is a football club based in Leganés, Community of Madrid, Spain, that currently competes in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league system. It was founded on 23 June 1928. It holds home games at ...

also in the main category. On 9 January 2017, Medjani rescinded with ''Lega'' and signed with Trabzonspor again.

International career

Medjani has an Algerian father and a French mother, and was eligible for both national teams. Medjani captained the France U21 team in the

Toulon Tournament The Toulon Tournament (officially the Festival International "Espoirs" – Tournoi Maurice Revello) is a football (training match) tournament, which traditionally features invited national teams composed of youth players from U-17 to U-23 level. ...

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

. However, being of Algerian origin, he made the switch to represent Algeria in international competitions and was called up by

Rabah Saâdane Rabah Saâdane ( ar, رابح سعدان; born 3 May 1946) is an Algerian football manager and retired professional player whose playing career was abruptly interrupted at the age of 27 by a car accident. His last management job was of the Alger ...

to the Algeria national team's preliminary squad for the

2010 FIFA World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

, before going on to make the full tournament squad. On 10 December 2012, it was announced that Medjani was selected in the 40-man provisional squad for the

2013 Africa Cup of Nations The 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the Orange Africa Cup of Nations South Africa 2013 for sponsorship reasons, held from 19 January to 10 February 2013, was the 29th Africa Cup of Nations, the football championship of Africa organized ...

. Medjani survived the cuts, firstly to the 24-man list announced on 18 December 2012, and then to the final squad of twenty-three. Having won 25

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

s by this point, Medjani made his second

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

squad by winning a place in the Algerian cohort for the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

. A year and ten appearances later, Medjani joined the Algeria team at the

2015 Africa Cup of Nations The 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, known as the Orange Africa Cup of Nations, Equatorial Guinea 2015 for sponsorship reasons, was the 30th staging of the Africa Cup of Nations, the international men's football championship of Africa. It was orga ...

Personal life

While growing up, Medjani revered boxer

Muhammad Ali Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and activist. Nicknamed "The Greatest", he is regarded as one of the most significant sports figures of the 20th century, a ...

Career statistics

Club

International goals

:''Scores and results list Algeria's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Medjani goal.''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Medjani, Carl 1985 births Living people Footballers from Lyon Men's association football defenders Men's association football midfielders French footballers French sportspeople of Algerian descent French expatriate sportspeople in Spain Algerian expatriate sportspeople in Monaco Algerian footballers Algeria men's international footballers France men's under-21 international footballers French people of Kabyle descent Kabyle people Algerian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Greece Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in Turkey Expatriate footballers in Saudi Arabia FC Metz players FC Lorient players AC Ajaccio players AS Monaco FC players Liverpool F.C. players Olympiacos F.C. players Valenciennes FC players Trabzonspor footballers Levante UD footballers CD Leganés players Sivasspor footballers Ohod Club players Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players Super League Greece players Süper Lig players Saudi Professional League players La Liga players 2010 FIFA World Cup players 2013 Africa Cup of Nations players 2014 FIFA World Cup players Algerian people of French descent France men's youth international footballers 2015 Africa Cup of Nations players Algerian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Algerian expatriate sportspeople in Greece Algerian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Algerian expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia