Badredine Bouanani

Badredine Bouanani (born 8 December 2004) is a professional footballer who plays as a forward for Ligue 1 club Nice. Born in France, he plays for the Algeria national team.

Club career

Born in Lille, France, Bouanani started his career with local side US Ronchin before joining Lille in 2011. Having progressed through the youth ranks, he was named by English newspaper The Guardian as one of the best players born in 2004 worldwide in October 2021. During his time with Lille, he was seen as the best player to come through their academy since Eden Hazard.

In April 2022, it was rumoured that Bouanani would sign for Nice when his contract with Lille expired. In July of the same year, he made the switch to Nice. On 31 January 2024, Bouanani signed for Lorient until the end of the season.

International career

Bouanani has represented France at under-16, under-18 and under-19 level.

He is Algerian by descent and, after scoring for the France under-18 team in a 3–2 win over Algeria, he caused controversy by stating "Je suis Algérien" (I am Algerian), despite deciding to represent France at youth level. Since this remark, he has opted to choose the Algerian national team and was called up to the main team in March 2023

He made his full debut for Algeria on 23 March 2023, and provided the assist for Riyad Mahrez’s winning goal in a 2–1 victory over Niger.