“I’m not him” – Johann Lepenant laughs off Karim Benzema comparisons

Johann Lepenant (21) has settled quickly into the FC Nantes first team following his transfer from Olympique Lyonnais this summer who has an undisclosed purchase option (thought to be around 2.5 million euros).

The France Under-21 international had struggled to play last season after suffering a long-term injury while representing his national team. This kept him out of Pierre Sage’s plans at Lyon when the manager first arrived, while new additions in the winter transfer window meant there was no role for Lepenant once he returned to the team

At Nantes, it has been a very different story, with Antoine Kombouaré relying heavily on the loanee as one of his key players in a start to the campaign that sees the club in tenth place. Lepenant was able to show his skills with an excellent assist to help Nantes go 2-0 up against AS Saint-Étienne, although the match would end 2-2.

The midfielder took the ball from a service close to the Saint-Étienne goal, spun and spun missing his marker before darting down the byline skipping two challenges before delivering his pass to Sorba Thomas (25).

It was an assist reminiscent of Karim Benzema (36) in Real Madrid’s 2017 Champions League win over Atletico Madrid in the semi-finals, and social media wasn’t quick to notice. However, in an interview with The TeamLepenant laughed at the similarities.

“I thought it was ironic. I’m nothing like Benzema, so it made me laugh,“, explained the former SM Caen man. “But it’s true that it seems so (his goal against Atlético). But there are so many guys who can dribble, I don’t know how many… Look at Rayan (Cherki), for example, he does it every game.“.

GFFN | Nick Hartland