Best Ligue 1 defenders of 2021

French Ligue 1 is usually known among the people and fans as a league without a strong offensive line. The scoring rate per game is usually lower than other leagues in the world, so to be more successful and confident, teams need to focus more on their defensive line to win the game with a more decisive result. Now that the league is over and the French national team has failed in the Euro, it is the best time to analyze the players in this league. 

Top Ligue 1 defenders of 2021

In the following article, we want to introduce you to the top 15 defenders of last season in the French Ligue 1, men who with all their might and zeal withstood the onslaught of the opposing team to leave the field with a victory. Our 15-man list includes three categories of five, with the top five in the right-back, five in left-back, and the last five in center-back.

Mehmet Zeki Çelik

The first player on our list of

Best Ligue 1 defenders of 2021

is a professional, very young player that we would hear of him more and more in the near future. Mehmet was born on February 7, 1997, in Turkey. He was only 11 years old when he started playing football in his country in Yavuz Selim Spor. In 2009, he managed to go one step further and join the

team, and after six years of hard working in 2015, he started playing football professionally in the Bursapur first team.

As time passed, he became more professional in his position as Right-Back. When his talent blossomed, even more, he was able to join the İstanbulspor in 2016, which later caused him to attract the attention of the national team. His presence in this Turkish team became his launching pad for participating in a more professional and famous league. He made significant progress in 2018 and managed to sign a 5-year contract with

. Last season in the French Ligue 1, he made 29 appearances for Lille, scoring three goals and assisting three times in his 2389 minutes of performance, and unfortunately had one own goal.

Léo Dubois

The second person in our list of

Best Ligue 1 defenders of 2021,

 is another young man who, at the age of twenty-six, has succeeded in establishing his name among the experienced players. Leo Dubois was born on September 14, 1994, in France. He was only six years old when he started playing football at the youth level of  SC Saint-Gemmes d'Andigne and gradually, with the necessary skills, he was able to prove his talent to the world as a right-back player, which paved the way for him to play in the top teams. Then, Leo joins

in 2018 after six years in

' first and second teams with a four-year contract. Twenty-six-year-old Leo made 37 appearances for Lyon in the last season of French Ligue 1, scoring two goals and had three assists in 2,918 minutes of performance. 

Ruben Aguilar 

The third person on our list of

Best Ligue 1 defenders of 2021, 

like the top two, is a right-back player, a young Frenchman who has spent his entire career in France. Ruben was born on April 26, 1993, in Grenoble and started playing for Saint-Siméon-de-Bressieux SP when he was six years old. He spent five years playing football for the same club and then joined his hometown team Grenoble in 2005 and remained there until 2011.

Reaching the age of youth football, he joined the

team and after two years managed to get into the main team. The young and promising player, currently plays for

and has previously played for

and

. Last season, he was one of the best in his team and the French Ligue 1. He played in 33 games and managed to score one goal and have four assists in 2228 minutes of performanc. 

Jonathan Clauss

Jonathan Clauss, the 28-year-old

player, is the fourth person to be named on the list of

Best Ligue 1 defenders of 2021

. Jonathan was born on September 25, 1992, in Strasbourg, France. He joined FC Osthoffen when he was six years old and after two years, he decided to continue playing football more seriously at the

Football Academy. Since the city borders Germany, he had the chance to gain experience in low-level German clubs as well. Young Jonathan has come a long way in establishing himself as a strong right-back in football. After playing for various teams such as SV Linx Raon-l'Étape,Avranches, Quevilly-Rouen and Arminia Bielefeld, he joined one of the best Ligue teams, Lens in 2020. During last season, Jonathan played in 33 Ligue 1 games, scoring three goals and providing six assists in 2,537 minutes.

Let's move forward to see how is the next player on the Sportmob list of

Top Ligue 1 defenders of 2021

. Stay tuned

Fabien Centonze

The last right-back on our list of Best Ligue 1 defenders of 2021, is Fabian Centonze. A 25-year-old player who currently plays for

. Fabien was born in France on January 16, 1996, and gradually found fame for himself by playing for various teams at various levels. He joined Metz in 2019. Last year, he played in 36 games as a tough and professional defender and scored only one goal in 3222 minutes. Undoubtedly, this 25-year-old player will soon reach a more brilliant position both at the national and club level.

Now it's time to continue our list of Best Ligue 1 defenders of 2021 with left-back footballers.

Caio Henrique

Complementing and assisting right-back players are players who play on the left side in front of them. Sixth on our list of top players, who play powerfully at left-back, is the Brazilian player, Caio Henrique, who has proven his country's beautiful football beautifully in the French Ligue 1. Caio Henrique was born on July 31, 1997, in Brazil. Born in Santos, he started playing football as a child on his hometown youth team in 2008 and stayed in his hometown for eight years, where he was promoted to a higher level after a successful and full of experience period.

Caio moved to La Liga and resumed playing football at

in 2016. He first played in the second team and then managed to get himself into the main squad of the La Liga side. The young player played on loan for various teams such as Fluminense, Paraná, and Grêmio until 2020, before signing a contract with Monaco, until he finally qualified for the French Ligue 1 in August 2020. It is true that he has just joined the French league, but in the same year, he managed to be among the

best Ligue 1 players 2021

. During the 2020/21 season, Caio made 31 appearances and had five assists in 2373 minutes of performance.

Hassane Kamara

The next person on our list of top defenders is another young and talented player born in France but from Ivory Coast.  Hassan kamara was born on March 5, 1994, in Saint-Denis, France. He started playing football when he was ten years old. Kamara joined the youth of LB Châteauroux and then he made his League 2 debut on April 4, 2014, against Clermont-Foot, and afterward on 2 May 2014, he scored his first league goal against Stade Lavallois. Gradually, he was able to find his place in the French Football League.

In 2015, before joining Paris FC on loan, he signed a contract with

and won the French Ligue 2 championship in 2017/2018, and as a result, his team was promoted to the French Ligue 1. Hassan kamara remained with Stade de Reims until 2020, after which he joined

on June 26. In his first year with the French Ligue 1 professional team, he made his name in the list of the best Ligue 1 players 2021. Kamara played 36 times for Nice last season, scoring two goals and assisting one goal in 2965 minutes.

Romain Perraud

The third left-back on the list of the

best Ligue 1 players 2021,

is Romain Perraud, who will play in the English Premier League and

this year. Romain was born on September 22, 1997, in Toulouse, France. As he was born in Toulouse, he started playing football in his hometown for the Blagnac FC youth team in 2007. Having passed seven successful years, In 2014, he joined the OGC Nice youth team within Toulouse Fontaine and Colomiers USA Football Club. After two years, In 2016, Romain managed to be promoted to the Nice first Team. Soon on 8 December 2016, he could make his senior debut in a 6th 2016–17 UEFA Europa League against FC Krasnodar at Allianz Riviera and played the full 90 minutes.

Then, in August 2018, Romain signed a seasonal loan deal with

and after almost a month, on 14 September 2018, he made his team debut in a 0-0 draw against Ajaccio. Later on, in September 2018, Perraud managed to score his first goal for Paris FC following a 2–1 victory over FC Metz. In the following year, On July 17, 2019, Romain signed a four-year contract with

, his last Ligue 1 side. Then, on 10 August 2019, he made his debut for the team in a 1-1 draw against Toulouse, and his first goal for Brest was scored on 13 September 2020, in a 2-0 victory over

. During his last season in the French Ligue 1, Romain made 36 appearances, scoring three goals and providing seven assists in 3,140 minutes of performance.

Maxwel Cornet

The next person on our list of Ligue 1 best defenders, is one of the young players from the Ivory Coast. Maxwell Cornet was born on September 27, 1996 in Cote d'Ivoire. He first chose  ARS Laquenexy  to start his amateur football career and later joined the Metz Youth Football Academy. His time on the Metz youth team lasted nearly eight years. He was promoted to Metz's second team in 2012, and in August of the following year, he made his official debut in the French Ligue 2 against  Stade Lavallois. After two years, Max caught the attention of the coach and placed himself in the main team of Metz. His presence in Metz's main team made him one of the best and conscientious players in the defense position among the experts, and that led him to a more prominent team.

He signed a contract with Lyon on January 16, 2015. Maxwel's first game for his new team, Lyon, took place a week after signing him, a tough game against his former club, the Metz. The young and motivated young defender failed to score until October of that year, scoring his first goal in a home game against Toulouse. His presence in Lyon made him more aware of his own talent. In January of last year, once Lyon's two main players, Youssouf Koné and Fernando Marça, were injured, the Lyon coach decided to deploy him as a left-back. A risky decision that ended well. Maxwel responded well to the confidence of the Lyon coach and in his new position, he played well and became the main left defender of the team. Maxwell, 24, played in 36 Ligue 1 games for Lyon in the last season, scoring two goals and had five assists in his 2455 minutes.

Reinildo Mandava

The last left-back on our list is the 27-year-old Lille player. Mandava was born on January 21, 1994, in Mozambique. This young player may not be famous enough in the media, but his performance has been so good and professional that he should undoubtedly be considered one of the best in Lille last season.  Mandava was born in Beira and started playing football with local club Ferroviário da Beira in 2012. After three years he could manage to sign for

Portugal and was appointed to their reserve team. Having passed two years in Portugal, he went on loan to  Sporting da Covilhã for one season at LigaPro.

Once his loan contract finished he went on loan to another team,  Belenenses SAD. It was with this team that he managed to make his way to the French Ligue 1. He initially managed to sign a loan deal with Lille in January 2019. At the end of the same season, he made his permanent contract  and at the very beginning of his career, he was named one of Lille's best. It was with this team that he managed to make his way to the French Ligue 1. Mandava played in 29 matches and did not score a single goal during his 2180 minutes of performance.

And now, in the last part of our article, we will introduce the top five  Centre-back. Stay with us.

Jason Denayer

The first center-back on our list is Jason Denayar, a 26-year-old Belgian player who has played for various teams and was recently promoted to the French Ligue 1. Jason was born on June 28, 1995, in Belgium. He started playing football at the age of six and joined FC Ganshoren, and after eight years, he rejoined one of his country's teams, Anderlecht. At first, Jason started playing football with a motivation to play in the attacking position but gradually realized that his performance in defense was more appropriate.

The same decision succeeded him in the trial of

and he joined the English Premier League in 2013 to have a more serious start to his football career. After a very successful year at City, he went on loan to various teams, including Celtic, Sunderland, and Galatasaray. These loan deals did not distract him from his main path, and after several consecutive years of participation in lesser-known teams, his path to join the French Ligue 1 was paved, and in August 2018 he signed a four-year contract with Lyon. Jason played in 31 games during the Lyon 2020/21 season, scoring one goal in 2,619 minutes.

Sven Botman

Another center-back on our list of top players is a very young player who has just started his second decade of life. Sven Botman was born in the Netherlands on January 21, 2000, and was only nine years old when he started playing football in his home country and soon joined

. Young Sven spent many years in his country's football league until in 2020, the coach of French club, Lille, was attracted to the young defender and he signed his 5-year contract in the same year. During his first season in the French Ligue 1 last season, Sven played in 37 games.

Marquinhos

Marquinhos, the twenty-seven-year-old defender of

, is the next player on our list of

ligue 1 best defenders.

He was born in Brazil on May 14, 1994, he started his football at the youth level in Corinthians, and after several years he succeeded in promoting to the adult team and even win the 2012 Copa Libertadores. After that, he went to  

, a decision that brought him to a bigger and better team. In 2013 he entered the League of French football and signed his contract with Paris Saint-Germain.

This young player usually plays as a central defender, however, he is able to play as a right-back and in a central or defensive midfield. The Brazilian footballer of PSG is famous of his intelligence, his ability to keep the ball and speed . Many press even consider him as one of the top ten European young players. In the main arrangement of the team, he is not just a defender, but well can bring the ball from the defense line to attacker players and set up an attack preparations. During the last season, he had very good record. He was present in 25 games and scored three goals in 2129 minutes, and had one assist. 

José Fonte

Jose Fonte, the current defender of the Lille , at thirty-seven years old, is the most experienced player on our list. He was born on December 23, 1983. He began his football in his hometown team, and after a while, he joined to Sporting Lisbon. The player played in many teams during his football career, teams like Crystal Palace and

, until 2018 he signed his two-year contract with Lille in French Ligue 1. The thirty-seven-year defender, for the first time in the last season, was chosen as the Captain, and succeeded in attending thirty-six games, scored three goals, and had one assist. 

Boubakar Kouyaté

The current Metz defender, Boubakar Kouyaté, is the last name on our list of top Ligue 1 defenders of 2021. He was born on April 15, 1997, and after several years playing for lesser-known teams, he finally managed to reach his true place. He signed a four-year contract with Metz in 2020, and in the very first season of his presence, he can be said to be one of the best in the French league. He made 25 appearances and scored one goal in the last season.

What you read was an overview of the top 15 defenders in the French Ligue 1 last season. Fifteen young players whose fame is not comparable to the world's top players, but have tried their best to get the best result for their team. Which of the defenders on the above list do you think has done better than the other?

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