Background and career
Medhi Amine El Mouttaqi Benatia (Arabic: المهدي أمين المتقي بن عطية; French pronunciation: [mɛdi bɛnatia]; born 17 April 1987) is a former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. He last served as the sporting director of Ligue 1 club Marseille. Benatia is well known for his tenures throughout France, Italy, and Germany, he represented Morocco at the international level, making 66 international appearances, and most notably captained them to their first World Cup in twenty years.
Benatia began his career at Marseille, being loaned out to Tours and Lorient before joining Clermont in 2008. Two years later he joined Udinese, spending three seasons there before transferring to Roma. After helping the side finish as Serie A runners-up in his only campaign there, Benatia was signed by Bayern Munich for €26 million, winning the Bundesliga in both of his seasons at the club. In 2016 he moved to Juventus, initially on loan, and was later signed permanently by the club in 2017; he won three league titles with the side, and helped them reach the Champions League final in 2017. Following stints with Al-Duhail in Qatar and Fatih Karagümrük in Turkey, Benatia retired from professional football in 2021.
Born and raised in France to a Moroccan father and an Algerian mother, Benatia initially represented France at under-18 level. He then switched to represent his father's country at under-20 level, making his senior international debut in 2008. Benatia represented Morocco at four Africa Cup of Nations tournaments and the 2018 FIFA World Cup. In 2019, Benatia announced his retirement from international football, having earned 66 caps.
