.jpg) Benalouane training withAtalanta in 2014 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Yohan Ben Alouane[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1987-03-28)28 March 1987 (age 38) | ||
| Place of birth | Bagnols-sur-Cèze, France | ||
| Height | 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)[2] | ||
| Position | Centre back | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1996–2000 | FC Tricastin | ||
| 2000–2001 | Racing Blondel Bollène | ||
| 2001–2005 | Saint-Étienne | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2005–2007 | Saint-Étienne B | 2 | (0) |
| 2007–2010 | Saint-Étienne | 66 | (2) |
| 2010–2012 | Cesena | 26 | (0) |
| 2012–2014 | Parma | 25 | (1) |
| 2014–2015 | →Atalanta (loan) | 44 | (1) |
| 2015–2019 | Leicester City | 16 | (0) |
| 2016 | →Fiorentina (loan) | 0 | (0) |
| 2019–2020 | Nottingham Forest | 15 | (1) |
| 2020–2022 | Aris | 22 | (0) |
| 2022–2023 | Novara | 24 | (2) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2008 | France U21[3] | 1 | (0) |
| 2018 | Tunisia | 5 | (0) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 09:54, 1 June 2023 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals as of 11:38, 17 July 2019 (UTC) | |||
Yohan Ben Alouane (Arabic:يوهان بن علوان, also known asYohan Benalouane; born 28 March 1987) is a former professionalfootballer who plays as adefender. Born and brought up in France, Benalouane represented the country as a youth before switching toTunisia at senior international level.
Benalouane started out his professional career at a French clubSaint-Étienne, playing exclusively for the reserves in 2005 before successfully promoted to the first team in 2007.
On 31 August 2010, Benalouane joined Serie A clubCesena for an undisclosed fee.[4] After a particularly poor performance in a 2–0 loss againstBologna in December 2010, Benalouane was substituted. On leaving the pitch, and being jeered by Cesena supporters, he stormed past the bench and headed straight down the tunnel.[5] He later publicly apologised for his behaviour.[6]
In the summer of 2012, Benalouane was loaned toParma, making his move permanent in July 2013 in aco-ownership deal. He signed a five-year contract with theSerie A outfit.[7] On 3 January 2014, he joinedAtalanta on a loan deal.[8]
On 3 August 2015, Benalouane joinedPremier League clubLeicester City on a four-year contract for an undisclosed fee, reported to be €8 million.[9][10] On 31 January 2016, he joined Italian clubACF Fiorentina on loan until the end of the season,[11] but did not play for the club due to injury.[12] In June 2016, Benalouane filed an appeal with theLega Serie A over unpaid wages from Fiorentina, whose sporting director claimed Leicester had deceived them over the player's fitness.[12] He played only four league games (all as a substitute) in the2015–16 Premier League season, when Leicester became champions, making him ineligible for awinner's medal (minimum five league matches required).[13]
Following the close of the transfer window, Benalouane was excluded from Leicester City's finalised squad for the 2016–17 Premier League season.[14] Benalouane spent most of the season playing for thereserves, but returned to the first team in January 2017 following the departures ofLuis Hernández andJeffrey Schlupp. He played his first senior game of the 2016–17 season in a 3–1 FA Cup fourth-round replay win overDerby County on 8 February 2017.[15]
On 18 January 2019 it was announced that Benalouane had become new managerMartin O'Neill's first signing forNottingham Forest.[16] He made his debut for the club the following day, playing the full 90 minutes of a 0–1 home defeat toBristol City.[17] He scored his first goal for the club in a 1–0 win over arch-rivalsDerby County on 25 February 2019.
After having his contract cancelled with Forest by mutual consent,[18] Benalouane subsequently joinedSuper League Greece sideAris until the end of the 2021–22 season.[19]
On 14 July 2022, Benalouane signed a one-year contract, with an option to extend, withNovara in the Italian third-tierSerie C.[20]
Benalouane was eligible to play either for France (by place of birth) or Tunisia (through parentage). Despite playing once for theFrench under 21 team, he submitted a transfer request to represent the Tunisian senior team in 2010. However, despite receiving a call-up againstChad in anAfrican Cup of Nations qualifier,[21] he missed the game because he failed to be vaccinated prior to travel to Chad.
In October he refused to join Tunisia for the match againstTogo, for which he expected to receive a call-up fromLaurent Blanc instead. However,FIFA warned Benalouane that as the paperwork had been completed, he could represent Tunisia only, a refusal to show up may risk a ban in club football.[22] Benalouane refused another call-up in August 2013.[23]
In March 2018, Benalouane was once again called up by Tunisia, and this time he accepted the call up.[24] Benalouane made his debut for Tunisia in a 1–0 victory over Iran on 23 March 2018, playing the full match.[25]He was named in Tunisia's final 23-man squad for the2018 World Cup in Russia.[26]
| Club | Season | League | National cup | League cup | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Saint-Étienne | 2007–08 | Ligue 1 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 7 | 0 | |
| 2008–09 | Ligue 1 | 29 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 38 | 2 | |
| 2009–10 | Ligue 1 | 29 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 0 | |
| 2010–11 | Ligue 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 66 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 78 | 3 | ||
| Cesena | 2010–11 | Serie A | 15 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 16 | 0 | ||
| 2011–12 | Serie A | 11 | 0 | 3 | 1 | — | — | 14 | 1 | |||
| 2012–13 | Serie A | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 2 | 0 | |||
| Total | 26 | 0 | 6 | 1 | — | — | 32 | 1 | ||||
| Parma | 2012–13 | Serie A | 21 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 22 | 1 | ||
| 2013–14 | Serie A | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 5 | 0 | |||
| Total | 25 | 1 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 27 | 1 | ||||
| Atalanta (loan) | 2013–14 | Serie A | 17 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 18 | 0 | ||
| 2014–15 | Serie A | 27 | 1 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 29 | 1 | |||
| Total | 44 | 1 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 47 | 1 | ||||
| Leicester City | 2015–16 | Premier League | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | 9 | 0 | |
| 2016–17 | Premier League | 11 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 18 | 0 | |
| 2017–18 | Premier League | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 5 | 0 | ||
| Total | 16 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 29 | 0 | ||
| Fiorentina (loan) | 2015–16 | Serie A | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Nottingham Forest | 2018–19 | Championship | 14 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 14 | 1 | |
| 2019-20 | Championship | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | ||
| Total | 15 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 16 | 1 | |||
| Career total | 192 | 5 | 21 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 11 | 1 | 229 | 7 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tunisia | 2018 | 5 | 0 |
| Total | 5 | 0 | |
|  | |