Mehdi Benatia

Club

Karagumruk

Position

Centre-Back

Nationality

Morocco

Date of birth

1987-04-17

Birthplace

Courcouronnes, France

Height

1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)

Weight

86 kg (190 lb)

Shirt number

4

Signing / transfer fee

Free

Medhi Amine El Mouttaqi Benatia (Arabic: المهدي أمين بن عطية المتقي‎, born 17 April 1987) is a French-Moroccan footballer who plays as a centre back for Al-Duhail and was captain of the Moroccan national team. On 2 October 2019, Benatia announced his retirement from international football.

He began his career at Marseille, spending his time 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 them finish as Serie A runners-up in his only campaign there, he was signed by Bayern Munich for €26 million, winning the Bundesliga in both of his seasons. In 2016 he moved to Juventus, initially on loan, and was later signed permanently by the club in 2017.

Born and raised in France, Benatia represents his father's Morocco at international level. He made his international debut for them in 2008 and represented the nation at three Africa Cup of Nations tournaments, totalling over 50 caps.