Ismaël Bennacer (; , ; born 1 December 1997) is a professional footballer who plays as a

defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

for

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

club

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

, on loan from

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

club

AC Milan (), commonly referred to as Milan or AC Milan () mainly outside of Italy, is an Italian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Founded in 1899, the club competes in the Serie A, the top tie ...

. Born in France, he plays for the Algeria national team. 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 won the

2019 Africa Cup of Nations The 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (abbreviated as AFCON 2019 or CAN 2019), known as the Total SE, Total 2019 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 32nd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial international men's associati ...

where he was named player of the tournament and assisted the winning goal in the final.

Club career

Early career

After starting his career with French club

Arles Arles ( , , ; ; Classical ) is a coastal city and Communes of France, commune in the South of France, a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture in the Bouches-du-Rhône Departments of France, department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Reg ...

, Bennacer signed for

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

side

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 ...

in July 2015. He made his senior Arsenal debut in the League Cup fourth round away to

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...

on 27 October 2015, replacing

Theo Walcott Theo James Walcott (born 16 March 1989) is an English former professional footballer who played as a forward. He represented England at the 2006 World Cup and Euro 2012 and won 47 caps, scoring eight goals. Walcott currently appears as a cl ...

after 19 minutes, after the latter had already replaced the injured

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain Alexander Mark David Oxlade-Chamberlain (born 15 August 1993) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Süper Lig club Beşiktaş. He earned 35 caps for the England national team between 2012 and 2019. After rising t ...

in an eventual 3–0 loss. On 31 January 2017, it was announced that Bennacer would join

Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsorship reasons, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Prof ...

side

Tours Tours ( ; ) is the largest city in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Indre-et-Loire. The Communes of France, commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabita ...

on loan for the remainder of the 2016–17 season. He scored his first goal for Tours on 14 April 2017 against

Sochaux Sochaux () is a commune in the Doubs department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in eastern France. Geography Sochaux lies east of Montbéliard, and southeast of Paris. Population Inhabitants are known as ''Sochaliens''. Economy ...

from a free kick. On 21 August 2017, Bennacer joined Italian club

Empoli Empoli () is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Florence, Tuscany, Italy, about southwest of Florence, to the south of the Arno River, Arno in a plain formed by the river. The plain has been usable for agriculture since Ancient Ro ...

. In the

2017–18 Serie B The 2017–18 Serie B (known as the Serie B ConTe.it for sponsorship reasons) was the 86th season since its establishment in 1929. A total of 22 teams contested the league: 15 returning from the 2016–17 Serie B season, 4 promoted from 2016� ...

season, Bennacer made 39 appearances and scored 2 goals as Empoli won the Serie B title, earning promotion to

. Despite Empoli's relegation the following season, Bennacer's performances confirmed his status as one of the most promising young midfielders in Europe.

AC Milan

2019–20 season

On 4 August 2019,

announced they had signed Bennacer from

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. He made his club debut on 25 August, coming on as a second–half substitute in a 1–0 away defeat to

Udinese Udinese Calcio (; "Udinese Football") is a professional football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy. The team currently competes in the Serie A, the first tier of Italian football. It was founded on 30 November 1896 as a sport ...

in Serie A; his home and full–debut came on 31 August, in a 1–0 victory over

Brescia Brescia (, ; ; or ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the region of Lombardy, in Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Lake Garda, Garda and Lake Iseo, Iseo. With a population of 199,949, it is the se ...

. 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 Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

in Serie A.

2020–21 season

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

2021–22 season

Already a regular on

Stefano Pioli Stefano Pioli (born 20 October 1965) is an Italian football manager and former player who played as a defender. He is currently manager of Serie A club ACF Fiorentina. Pioli has managed several clubs in Serie A, including Bologna, Lazio, Int ...

's side, Bennacer form generated much praise from Italian pundits, showing dominating performance against the likes of Inter and Napoli. On 23 October 2021, as Milan was drawing 2–2 against

, Bennacer scored the third goal in an eventual 4–2 win. On 19 March 2022, Bennacer scored a screamer from outside the box against

Cagliari Cagliari (, , ; ; ; Latin: ''Caralis'') is an Comune, Italian municipality and the capital and largest city of the island of Sardinia, an Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Italy. It has about 146,62 ...

, helping his team to win 1–0 and stay on the top of league table. For the first time in a single Serie A season, Bennacer has scored more than once. Bennacer won the league title with AC Milan on 22 May 2022 with a 0–3 win at

U.S. Sassuolo Calcio Unione Sportiva Sassuolo Calcio, commonly referred to as Sassuolo (), is an Italian professional football club based in Sassuolo, Emilia-Romagna. Their colours are black and green, hence the nickname ''Neroverdi'' (literally "black and greens", ...

. It was his first trophy with the club.

2022–23 season

On 12 January 2023, Bennacer extended his contract until 30 June 2027. Bennacer scored his first goal in the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

on 12 April 2023, scoring the only goal in a 1–0 win over

Napoli Naples ( ; ; ) is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its province-level municipality is the thir ...

in the first leg of the quarter finals. 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.

2023–24 season

On 2 December 2023, Bennacer made his return to the pitch in a 3–1 home win against

Frosinone Frosinone (; local dialect: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Italian region of Lazio, administrative seat of the province of Frosinone. It is about southeast of Rome, close to the Rome-Naples A1 Motorway. The city is the main city of th ...

, coming on as a substitute at the 79th minute of the game.

Loan to Marseille

On 3 February 2025, Bennacer was loaned to

club

for the remainder of the season with an option to buy.

International career

Although he had previously represented France at youth level, on 31 July 2016, the

Algerian Football Federation The Algerian Football Federation (AFF); () is the governing body of Association football, football in Algeria. Formed in 1962 and was based in the capital Algiers. It has jurisdiction on the Algerian football league system and is in charge of th ...

announced that Bennacer had opted to switch his international allegiance and represent Algeria internationally. He debuted for the Algeria national team in a 2017 Africa Cup of Nations Qualifier, a 6–0 win over

Lesotho Lesotho, formally the Kingdom of Lesotho and formerly known as Basutoland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Entirely surrounded by South Africa, it is the largest of only three sovereign enclave and exclave, enclaves in the world, t ...

. Bennacer was called up on 11 January 2017 to Algeria's squad for the

African Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations, commonly abbreviated as AFCON and officially known as the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, is the main biennial international men's association football competition in Africa. It is s ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

to replace

Saphir Taïder Saphir Sliti Taïder (; born 29 February 1992) is a professional footballer who plays for Gulf United as a central midfielder. Born in France, he played for the Algeria national team. After beginning professionally with Grenoble in 2010, Taïd ...

, who suffered an injury in training. At the

, Bennacer helped Algeria to their first title in 29 years, finishing the competition as the joint-top assist provider, alongside

Franck Kessié Franck Yannick Kessié (born 19 December 1996) is an Ivorian professional footballer who plays as a central or defensive midfielder for Saudi Pro League club Al-Ahli and the Ivory Coast national team. After advancing through Atalanta, Kessi� ...

, with three assists, including one for

Baghdad Bounedjah Baghdad Saddam Bounedjah (, born 24 November 1991) is an Algerian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Qatar Stars League club Al-Shamal and the Algeria national team. Throughout his club career until 2015, Bounedjah played for ...

's match-winning goal against

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

on 19 July. He was later voted both the "Best Young Player" and the "Best Player" of the tournament. In December 2023, he was named in Algeria's squad for the

2023 Africa Cup of Nations The 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, known in short as the 2023 AFCON or CAN 2023 and for sponsor (commercial), sponsorship purposes as the TotalEnergies 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, was the 34th edition of the biennial Africa Cup of Nations tournam ...

Style of play

A dynamic, tenacious, energetic, diminutive, and versatile left-footed player, Bennacer is capable of playing in several midfield roles, and has been used as a deep-lying

playmaker In association football, a playmaker is a footballer who controls the flow of the team's play, and is often involved in offensively and defensively playing Passing (association football), passing moves which lead to Goal (sport), goals, through ...

in a holding role in midfield, as an

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

, or as a central offensive-minded midfielder, known as the ''

mezzala In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

'' role in Italian football. His main characteristics are his speed, vision, intelligence, composure,

dribbling In sports, dribbling is maneuvering a ball by one player while moving in a given direction, avoiding defenders' attempts to intercept the ball. A successful dribble will bring the ball past defenders legally and create opportunities to score. As ...

skills, passing, and technique; he is also known for his ability to transition from defence into attack.

Personal life

Bennacer was born in

, France, to a Moroccan father and an Algerian mother. Bennacer is a

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Algeria's goal tally first.''

Honours

Empoli *

Serie B The Serie B (), officially known as Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had b ...

: 2017–18 AC Milan *

: 2021–22 *

Supercoppa Italiana The Supercoppa Italiana, also known as the Italian Super Cup, is an annual super cup tournament in Italian football. Founded in 1988 as a two-team competition, it has featured four teams since 2023 (the winners and runners-up of the previous ...

: 2024–25 Algeria *

Africa Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations, commonly abbreviated as AFCON and officially known as the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, is the main biennial international men's association football competition in Africa. It is s ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

Individual * Best Player of the Africa Cup of Nations: 2019 * CAF Africa Cup of Nations Team of the Tournament:

References

External links

Profile
at the AC Milan website * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bennacer, Ismael 1997 births 2017 Africa Cup of Nations players 2019 Africa Cup of Nations players 2021 Africa Cup of Nations players 2023 Africa Cup of Nations players AC Arlésien players Arsenal F.C. players Tours FC players Empoli FC players AC Milan players Olympique de Marseille players Algerian expatriate men's footballers Algerian expatriates Algerian men's footballers Algeria men's international footballers Algerian people of Moroccan descent Men's association football midfielders Championnat National 3 players Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Italy French men's footballers France men's youth international footballers French emigrants Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players Living people Moroccan men's footballers 21st-century Moroccan sportsmen Footballers from Arles Serie A players Serie B players 21st-century French sportsmen