Missing a chunk of the season due to a Covid-19 infection, Ramy Bensebaini is now back and ready to face Manchester City in the Champions League.
A regular under Marco Rose when fit, the Algeria international is likely to face his compatriot Riyad Mahrez in the upcoming fixture, but he could have done so far more often had he managed to complete a move to Arsenal back when Arsène Wenger was in charge.
The player opened up to BBC Afrique in a lengthy interview, where he touched upon a desire to play in the Premier League down the line, having had a taste from a spell with the Gunners.
Getting a trial with the London club at a young age, the left-back explained what happened.
He said: “When I was at the academy (at Paradou AC), we had an agent who used to work with players there to get them to Europe who knew Arsène Wenger, and he spoke to him about me. I went there, spent close to a month, I was training with the first-team and I played with the reserves at the weekend.
“It was a bit complicated because I didn’t speak English, I didn’t know anyone. I didn’t sign because, and this is what they’ve told me, I don’t know if it’s true, but there were six coaches who had to decide. Four said yes, two said no, and I needed a European passport, which I don’t have. I went back to Algeria, and then went to Belgium a year later”.
Asked what it felt like to be under Wenger’s orders for a bit, Bensebaini simply laughed and said he wasn’t ready for it in the slightest, and while it was weird at first, players like Marouane Chamakh and Bacary Sagna helped him out.
Following this trial, the defender moved to Lierse in Belgium on loan, followed by another temporary deal to Montpellier before Stade Rennais lumped around €2m to buy him from Paradou in 2016.
Then came the move to Borussia Mönchengladbach in 2019, with the rest being history.
