Téji Tedy Savanier (born 22 December 1991) is a French professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as an

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

for club

Montpellier Montpellier (; ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of France, department of ...

. Formed at Montpellier, where he only made the

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players who are under contract to a club but who do not regularly play in matches for the club's primary team. Reserve teams usually include players who are part of the larger first-team squad but ...

in his first spell, he began his professional career at Arles-Avignon in

Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsorship reasons, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Prof ...

. In 2015 he joined

Nîmes Nîmes ( , ; ; Latin: ''Nemausus'') is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Gard Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region of Southern France. Located between the Med ...

, where he won promotion and played in

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

in the 2018–19 season. Savanier then returned to Montpellier for a club-record fee of €10 million, later becoming the team's captain. Savanier represented the France Olympic team at the 2020 games.

Club career

Early career

Formed at his hometown club

, Savanier had only played for the

when in 2011 he joined Arles-Avignon of

. His first professional goal was his only of that season, opening a 3–0 home win over

Lens A lens is a transmissive optical device that focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements'') ...

on 24 September.

Nîmes

In August 2015, Savanier moved to fellow Ligue 2 club

on a one-year deal with a clause allowing a second season. Two years later, he extended his link until 2020. In 2017–18, he helped the ''Crocodiles'' to second place and promotion to

for the first time since 1993. He and teammates

Umut Bozok Umut Dilan Bozok (born 19 September 1996) is a professional footballer who plays as a striker for Süper Lig club Eyüpspor. Born in France, he played for the Turkey national team. Early life Bozok was born in Saint-Avold, in the east of ...

and Rachid Alioui made the league's Team of the Year at the

Trophées UNFP du football The Trophées UNFP du football are a number of awards given annually by the Union Nationale des Footballeurs Professionnels (UNFP) to players playing in France's Ligue 1, Ligue 2, and Division 1 Féminine, as well as to managers and referees. The ...

. In 2018–19, his debut top-flight season, Savanier helped Nîmes come 9th. He led the league in assists with 14, ahead of Ángel Di María and Nicolas Pépé on 11 each, and surpassed only by

Eden Hazard Eden Michael Walter Hazard (born 7 January 1991) is a Belgian former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Winger (association football), winger or attacking midfielder for Lille OSC, Lille, Chelsea F.C., Chelsea, Real ...

(15) in Europe's five largest leagues. Near the start of the season he was involved in a controversy in a 4–2 home loss to

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain () or simply PSG, is a French professional Association football, football club based in Paris. They compete in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top d ...

in which he was sent off for a foul on

Kylian Mbappé Kylian Mbappé Lottin (born 20 December 1998) is a French professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for club Real Madrid CF, Real Madrid and Captain (association football), captains ...

, who was also given a red card for pushing him in retaliation.

Montpellier

In July 2019, Savanier returned to Montpellier for an estimated €10 million fee, a club record. He became a key part of the team under manager Michel Der Zakarian. After the retirement of 43-year-old club veteran

Vitorino Hilton Vitorino Hilton da Silva (born 13 September 1977), commonly known as Vitorino Hilton or just Hilton, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. Beginning his career in Brazil, at 23 he moved to Europe to play fo ...

, Savanier succeeded him as

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

of Montpellier in 2021. In December that year, he was UNFP Player of the Month for his two goals and two assists. In June 2022, with one year remaining of his contract, Savanier extended it to 2026. He had been of interest to

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

. The 2022–23 season was his most prolific with 12 goals, starting with two on the opening day in a 3–2 home win over

Troyes Troyes () is a Communes of France, commune and the capital of the Departments of France, department of Aube in the Grand Est region of north-central France. It is located on the Seine river about south-east of Paris. Troyes is situated within ...

. He was sent off three times over the campaign; the third, in a 1–0 home win against

Rennes Rennes (; ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in Northwestern France at the confluence of the rivers Ille and Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the Brittany (administrative region), Brittany Regions of F ...

on 23 April, earned him a three-match ban.

International career

Savanier was named as one of three overage players for the French Olympic team for the 2020 tournament in Japan. In the second group game, he scored the added-time winner in a 4–3 victory over

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. In March 2021, Savanier gave an interview to

France Bleu Ici (; formerly ''France Bleu'' ) is a network of local and regional radio stations in France, part of the national public broadcasting group Radio France. The network has a public service mission to serve local audiences and provides local new ...

in which he said he could equally play for

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

– where his grandfather was born – as for France. He later clarified that his only wish was to play for France.

Personal life

Born in

to a Romani family, Savanier lives near his family in Figuerolles, a district of the city. When he played for Arles, one hour away, he rented with his mother.

Career statistics

Honours

Individual * UNFP Player of the Month: December 2021 * ''The Athletic'' Ligue 1 Team of the Season: 2023–24

References

External links

*
Téji Savanier profile
at foot-national.com * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Savanier, Teji 1991 births Living people Footballers from Montpellier French men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Montpellier HSC players AC Arlésien players Nîmes Olympique players Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players Championnat National 2 players Championnat National 3 players Olympic footballers for France Footballers at the 2020 Summer Olympics French Romani people French people of Romani descent French sportspeople of Algerian descent Romani footballers 21st-century French sportsmen