Florian Thauvin is presently prime of the assists chart in Europe and we simply needed to dig deeper to seek out out which different forgotten ballers are nonetheless strutting their stuff in Ligue 1.
Thauvin, as soon as a forgettable Newcastle United winger, now captains Lens, who gave PSG a superb run for his or her cash within the Ligue 1 title race final season and are taking part in Champions League soccer this time round.
Ask any soccer fan to call 10 gamers from Ligue 1 and chances are high they’ll simply rattle off 10 PSG gamers. However you don’t grow to be one of many so-called prime 5 leagues with out having a bit extra depth of expertise.
So we’ve raked by the opposite squads in Ligue 1 to select a few of its greatest forgotten ballers.
Florian Thauvin
Let’s begin with the inspiration for this choice.
Thauvin quietly retraced his steps from Newcastle to Marseille after his time within the Premier League didn’t work out, however he hasn’t simply stayed in France ever since.
He had two years in Mexico and two in Italy earlier than heading again to his homeland with Lens in 2025.
He scored a formidable 11 league objectives final season and has 4 to his title this time period too, but it surely’s his eight assists that he’s standing out for proper now.
The attacking midfielder’s kind turned exhausting to disregard and final October he was recalled to the France squad after six years.
Takumi Minamino
It by no means fairly labored out for Minamino at Liverpool however he’s managed to settle at Monaco, the place he’s now in his fifth season.
When you didn’t realise he was nonetheless there, that is perhaps as a result of the attacking midfielder is simply getting back from an ACL harm. Again in motion in mid-October, he ought to quickly attain a century of Ligue 1 appearances.
Geoffrey Kondogbia
He could have been born in France, but it surely was in Spain that Kondogbia actually began to emerge to wider consideration when he was at Sevilla.
Monaco gave him an opportunity again in Ligue 1 between 2013 and 2015, earlier than two years in Serie A with Inter and 7 again in La Liga, break up between Valencia and Atletico Madrid.
It was in 2023 that Kondogbia headed again to Ligue 1 with Marseille, the place he’s nonetheless taking part in now. He had an injury-hit 2025-26 season, although.
Kevin Trapp
German goalkeeper Trapp beforehand had a three-year spell in Ligue 1 with Paris Saint-Germain, initially as a starter after which as a backup for Alphonse Areola.
His time in Paris was sandwiched between two stints with Eintracht Frankfurt, the second of which led to 2025.
After that it was again to the French capital for Trapp, however this time to signal for Paris FC – 44 metres away from his earlier dwelling stadium.
Paris FC had been newcomers to the highest flight when he arrived and he helped them to a mid-table end. He’s been their principal starter this season too on the age of 36.
Axel Witsel
A well-travelled footballer if ever there was one. Witsel has been right here, there and in all places – and never all the time someplace reflective of his true capability – earlier than signing up for his first French foray in August when he joined Good.
Now 37, he signed a one-year deal there after 4 years in La Liga. Earlier than that, he performed in Belgium, Portugal, Russia, China and Germany.
He’s began seven Ligue 1 video games to date and the final 4 as captain.
However we all know what you’re actually questioning. Does he nonetheless have the afro? You guess he does.
Djibril Sidibe
A Ligue 1 winner with Monaco in 2017 and World Cup winner with France in 2018, Sidibe appeared destined for large issues.
However he didn’t set the world alight throughout a mortgage transfer into the Premier League with Everton and ended up being bought by Monaco to AEK Athens in 2022.
The proper-back returned to France with Toulouse in 2024, earlier than becoming a member of newly promoted Le Mans this summer season.
He obtained despatched off lower than a minute into his debut. Ouch.
Nabil Bentaleb
As soon as upon a time, Bentaleb was an enormous prospect for Tottenham, incomes simply shy of fifty Premier League appearances.
However his time with Spurs reached a messy finish and he ended up at Schalke within the Bundesliga as an alternative.
The midfielder made a transfer again to his nation of delivery in 2022, becoming a member of Angers for an 18-month spell.
Then, in 2023, he joined his hometown crew Lille, the place he’s nonetheless a daily starter at 31.
Nicolas Tagliafico
One of many stars of the Ajax aspect that reached the Champions League semi-finals in 2019, Tagliafico took a couple of years after that to safe his subsequent step.
However whereas lots of that squad ended up within the Premier League, Tagliafico as an alternative went to Ligue 1 with Lyon.
Just a few months after his transfer, the left-back turned a World Cup winner with Argentina. Silverware at membership stage has eluded him in France, although, and he’s now 34 and within the final yr of his contract.
Thorgan Hazard
The extra well-known Hazard brother retired a couple of years in the past, however Eden’s sibling remains to be at it.
Thorgan has performed to an older age than Eden ever did. He’s now 33, and his brother was 32 when he hung up his boots.
For this Hazard, there was an emotional homecoming in the summertime when he re-joined Lens – the membership he left Chelsea for in 2012 to hyperlink up along with his brother.
It’s truly his first time taking part in in Ligue 1, since Lens had been in Ligue 2 when he broke by there.
He’s since performed in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands. Now he has Champions League soccer again on his agenda for the primary time since his Borussia Dortmund days.
READ MORE: 9 forgotten ballers taking part in within the UEFA Convention League this season
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