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Benjamin Stambouli is still playing. Who knew?

5 players from Ligue 2 who have fallen off the footballing map

Former players from Manchester City, Tottenham, Newcastle and Sevilla feature among those who’ve dropped off the footballing map still playing in Ligue 2.

There are some big clubs and familiar faces lower down the French footballing pyramid, and we’re not even talking about Andy Carroll banging them in for fallen giants Bordeaux in the Championnat National 2 after their administrative double relegation.

Here are forgotten footballers who are currently playing in the French second tier.

Benjamin Stambouli

The midfielder featured alongside Olivier Giroud at Montpellier’s miraculous Ligue 1 title victory back in 2013 and went on to captain the club when he was just 23.

Despite not doing much under Mauricio Pochettino at Spurs, he was sold on to PSG for a profit and helped them win a domestic treble during his one and only season.

Subsequent years have been comparatively underwhelming, though. Five so-so seasons at Schalke were followed by three wilderness years out at Adana Demirspor and a short-lived stint with Reims.

In September, Stambouli signed for former Ligue 1 mainstays Metz on a free transfer. That experience has proven useful at the base of midfield; they’re currently 2nd in the table and looking well-placed to bounce straight back.

Benjamin Mendy

Lorient went down from Ligue 1 alongside Metz last season. Mendy made 15 appearances for the club as they finished 17th, including during a disastrous run of seven successive defeats in the run-in.

The 30-year-old left-back has made headlines in recent months, having won a partial victory in his court case against former club Manchester City in unpaid wages, after he was charged with and acquitted of sexual offences.

On the pitch, there’s little evidence of Mendy’s career going anywhere. Lorient are top of the table and looking set for promotion but he’s not played a competitive football in 2024-25 and looks set to depart when his contract expires at the end of the campaign.

Timothee Kolodziejczak

Ten years have passed since Kolodziejczak won back-to-back Europa League titles with Unai Emery’s Sevilla.

Since then the defender has won a Mexican title with UANL and featured in Saint-Etienne’s 2020 Coupe de France final defeat to PSG.

After suffering a Bundesliga relegation with Schalke, Kolodziejczak joined Red Bull-backed Paris FC in September 2023.

The 33-year-old is club captain and into his second season with the Parisians, who are vying to become the capital’s second Ligue 1 club.

At the time of writing, they’re level on points with Metz and only three points off league leaders Lorient.


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Henri Saivet

The former Senegal international didn’t exactly light up English football during his five years on Newcastle United’s books, it would be fair to say.

He made just eight appearances for the Magpies amid three loans away and spent his last two seasons collecting his wages while out of sight with the reserves.

It would have been no surprise if Saivet had quietly decided to hang up his boots when he was released by Newcastle in 2021.

He spent a year out of the game before joining Ligue 2 outfit Pau and actually featured often, scoring regularly, for the club.

After two years with Pau he departed for their second-tier rivals Clermont Foot, fresh from their relegation.

He actually scored and assisted against his former club on his debut, but he’s recently spent a spell back on the sidelines.

Clermont are currently languishing in midtable and don’t look like bouncing straight back to Ligue 1 any time soon.

Nouha Dicko

If you’ve kept abreast of the Championship over the years, you might well remember the Malian winger from his stints with Wigan, Blackpool and Hull or particularly Wolves during their second-tier wilderness years, having made over a hundred appearances for the club before they were transformed back into a top-flight force.

Since departing England, Dicko time in Turkey and Greece with Gaziantep, Yeni Malatyaspor and OFI before returning to France with Paris FC in 2023.

He’s notched one goal and three assists in 19 Ligue 2 appearances for the promotion-chasers this season.