Mehdi Benatia has taken a swipe at the French clubs who refused to recognise his talent as a youngster.
Highly-rated defender delighted to have silenced doubters
Mehdi Benatia has taken a swipe at the French clubs who refused to recognise his talent as a youngster.
The 23-year-old is currently making quite a name for himself at Serie A outfit Udinese, having opted to try his luck in Italy after struggling to make the breakthrough in his homeland.
He progressed through the ranks at Ligue 1 giants Marseille, alongside the likes of Samir Nasri, but was unable to force his way into the first-team picture.
A couple of loan spells, a trial at Chelsea and a stint at Clermont followed, before Udinese offered him a route back to the big time.
Benatia is now drawing admiring glances from across Europe and is delighted to have proved a point to those who doubted his ability to become a defender at the highest level.
"I the summer of 2003 I signed a contract with Marseille for two years. It was like a dream," he told
L'Equipe.
"In January 2006, St Etienne wanted me but Marseille sporting director Jose Anigo said they would only let me leave for a foreign club.
Faith
"I had been on trial at Chelsea before then, in 2005. They offered me a three-year contract but I said no because I would not have played.
"In 2008 Marseille cancelled my contract and I signed for Clermont.
"After my first season there Udinese made an offer, but Clermont refused to let me earn a signing on fee as it was written in my contract.
"So I waited until 2010 at the end of my contract and went and signed a five-year deal with Udinese.
"No Ligue 1 club had any faith in me; they wouldn't give me one second of playing time.
"But Udinese are very happy with me and one of the club's scouts has even asked for my opinion on some of the young players."
