Andy Delort Explained

Andy Delort
Full Name:Andy Delort[1]
Birth Date:1991 10, df=yes
Birth Place:Sète, France
Height:1.81 m[2]
Position:Striker
Youthyears1:1997–1999
Youthclubs1:Sète
Youthyears2:1999–2000
Youthclubs2:Pointe Courte AC Sète
Youthyears3:2000–2002
Youthclubs3:Sète
Youthyears4:2002–2003
Youthclubs4:Pointe Courte AC Sète
Youthyears5:2003–2008
Youthclubs5:Sète
Years1:2008–2009
Clubs1:Ajaccio
Caps1:0
Goals1:0
Years2:2009–2010
Clubs2:Nîmes
Caps2:3
Goals2:0
Years3:2010–2013
Clubs3:Ajaccio
Caps3:47
Goals3:5
Years4:2012
Clubs4:Metz (loan)
Caps4:13
Goals4:1
Years5:2013–2014
Clubs5:Tours
Caps5:38
Goals5:24
Years6:2014–2015
Clubs6:Wigan Athletic
Caps6:11
Goals6:0
Years7:2015
Clubs7:Tours (loan)
Caps7:14
Goals7:2
Years8:2015–2016
Clubs8:Caen
Caps8:36
Goals8:12
Years9:2016–2017
Clubs9:Tigres UANL
Caps9:14
Goals9:3
Years10:2017–2019
Clubs10:Toulouse
Caps10:47
Goals10:10
Years11:2018–2019
Clubs11:Montpellier (loan)
Caps11:36
Goals11:14
Years12:2019–2021
Clubs12:Montpellier
Caps12:59
Goals12:26
Years13:2021–2023
Clubs13:Nice
Caps13:46
Goals13:22
Years14:2023
Clubs14:Nantes (loan)
Caps14:12
Goals14:0
Years15:2023–2024
Clubs15:Umm Salal
Caps15:12
Goals15:5
Nationalyears1:2009
Nationalteam1:France (beach)
Nationalcaps1:1
Nationalgoals1:5
Nationalyears2:2011
Nationalteam2:France U20
Nationalcaps2:1
Nationalgoals2:0
Nationalyears3:2019–
Nationalteam3:Algeria
Nationalcaps3:15
Nationalgoals3:2
Club-Update:05:52, 28 December 2023 (UTC)
Nationalteam-Update:4 November 2023

Andy Delort (Arabic: أندي ديلور; born 9 October 1991) is an Algerian professional footballer who plays as a striker for the Algeria national team.

Delort was a France under-20 youth international before representing Algeria at senior level. He has also played for the France beach soccer team.

Career

Early career

Delort was born in Sète, France, to a father of Romani descent,[3] and a mother of Algerian descent.[4] [5] He started his career at Sète. He joined Ajaccio in 2008, having finished top scorer at France U19 league level with 30 goals.[6] After coming through Ajaccio's youth ranks, he attracted interest from Bordeaux and Borussia Dortmund. After enjoying a trial at Borussia Dortmund, playing in the reserve team with Mario Götze and Shinji Kagawa, Dortmund offered him a contract. However, he chose to join Nîmes because of manager Jean-Michel Cavalli, claiming "a player who leapfrogs, burns his wings".[7]

Delort played his first game of Ligue 2 for Nîmes on 30 August 2009, coming on as a 53rd-minute substitute against Metz. During the season, he was rarely used in the first team making only three substitute appearances.[6]

Ajaccio and loan to Metz

Delort re-joined his original club, AC Ajaccio, in June 2010. He scored his first two goals at professional level on 15 September 2010 against Le Havre in the French League Cup, before achieving his first goals in the Coupe de France on 12 November 2010. His first Ligue 2 goals contributed to victories against Angers on 17 December 2010 and against Istres. He signed his first professional contract for three and a half years with AC Ajaccio on 28 January 2011. On 11 March 2011, he was one of the players involved in a mass brawl when he was replaced in the match against Nantes. As a result of the incident, several players were given suspensions; both Delort and his teammate Carl Medjani received four-match bans.[7] [8] [9] He earned promotion to Ligue 1 with AC Ajaccio during the 2010–11 season, after finishing 2nd in the league.

On 31 January 2012, Delort signed a six-month loan deal with Ligue 2 club Metz,[10] where he scored 1 goal in 13 appearances.

He returned to AC Ajaccio for the 2012–13 season, and scored his first goal in Ligue 1 on 27 April 2013 in a 2–1 win over Montpellier. In that season, he made 16 appearances in Ligue 1. In the same season, he scored 12 goals in 16 appearances for the club's reserve team.[6]

Tours

In the summer of 2013, Delort joined Ligue 2 side Tours. He finished the 2013–14 season as joint top scorer in Ligue 2, scoring 24 goals in 36 matches and was named in the Ligue 2 Team of the Year, as well as receiving a nomination for the Ligue 2 Player of the Year, eventually finishing runner-up to Metz's Diafra Sakho for the award.[11]

Wigan Athletic

On deadline day of the summer 2014 transfer window, Delort signed for Championship side Wigan Athletic for a fee reported to be under £3 million. He was given the number 49 shirt.[12] Delort struggled at Wigan and amassed only 11 league appearances for the club, failing to score in any of them. In an interview with Hat Trick, he admitted that he had struggled to settle at Wigan following his sudden upheaval from France.[13]

Return to Tours on loan

Having not been able to settle well in England, Delort re-joined Tours on loan until the end of the season on transfer deadline day in the summer of 2015.[14] In doing so, he opted to take a 50% pay cut in order to obtain regular playing time again.

Caen

Delort completed a transfer to Caen on 2 July 2015.[15] In his debut with Caen, he scored his first goal in a 1–0 defeat of Marseille on 8 August 2015.[16] At the start of the following season, Delort refused to attend training during a protracted transfer saga with Liga MX side Tigres UANL.[17]

Tigres UANL

On 2 September 2016, Delort's transfer to Tigres was officially announced becoming the second French player to join the team after André-Pierre Gignac. He signed a four-year contract while the transfer fee paid to Caen was reported as €8 million.[18] On 22 October 2016, he scored his first goal in Liga MX with Tigres, against UNAM at the Estadio Olímpico Universitario in a 3–1 victory. He spent less than six months at the club, however, scoring 3 goals in 14 appearances, before returning to France to join Toulouse.

Toulouse

On 26 January 2017, Delort returned to France, joining Toulouse on a reported four-year contract and for a reported transfer fee of €6 million.[19] He scored on his debut for the club on 2 February, netting the opening goal in a 4–0 win over Angers, and repeated the feat in his next two appearances against Lorient and Bastia.[20] [21]

Montpellier

On 24 July 2018, Delort was loaned to Montpellier until the end of the 2018–19 season with an option to buy.[22] On 12 June 2019, Delort signed permanently with Montpellier.[23] There, he scored a total of 41 goals across all competitions, beating Olivier Giroud's record and became the 3rd best striker of Montpellier in the 21st century.[24]

Nice

On 28 August 2021, Delort signed with fellow Ligue 1 side Nice on a 4-year deal.[25] On 21 May 2022, he scored his first Ligue 1 hat-trick in a 3–2 victory over Reims.[26]

Nantes

On 30 January 2023, Delort moved to fellow French club Nantes, initially on a six-month loan with an obligation to buy.[27] He scored his first two goals with Nantes during a Coupe de France quarter finals against RC Lens on 1 March 2023.[28]

Umm Salal

On 7 July 2023, Delort officially signed for Qatari club Umm Salal on a two-year contract with an option for a one-year extension. The transfer fee of the deal was estimated to be €2.5 million.[29] On 12 February 2024, he terminated his contract with Umm Salal.[30]

International career

Delort played in the beach soccer team managed by Eric Cantona in 2009. During an amateur tournament in Sète, he was spotted by Laurent Castro, who asked him to play in the qualification for the 2009 World Cup.[7] He scored five goals in the qualifiers.

In 2011, he was selected by France Under 20s team by Francis Smerecki to play against the United States on 17 May 2011.[6] He was then called to participate in the 2011 Toulon Tournament in June with the France team, but had to pull out of the squad having suffered an injury in a league game.[31]

Of Algerian nationality through his mother, Delort expressed an interest in representing the Algeria national football team in April 2019.[32] [33]

On 13 June 2019, the Algerian federation announced Delort's inclusion in its final squad for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations. He made his debut three days later in a friendly against Mali, coming on as a substitute for Yacine Brahimi in the 75th minute and scoring the winning goal 5 minutes later in a 3–2 victory.[34]

In October 2021, Delort was not called up to the national team for the recent World Cup qualifiers. Coach Djamel Belmadi revealed at a press conference that Delort himself refused the call-up because he wanted to concentrate on his club career, having recently signed with OGC Nice. Delort confirmed this and said he wanted to take a break from the national team for a year.[35]

Personal life

Delort has two children, a son and a daughter.[36] In January 2021, he received the medal of his hometown, Sète [37] from the hands of the mayor François Commeinhes.

Career statistics

Club

[38]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
ClubSeasonLeagueNational cupLeague cupContinentalTotal
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Ajaccio2010–11Ligue 22441042296
2011–12Ligue 170200090
2012–13Ligue 11611010181
Total4754052567
Metz (loan)2011–12Ligue 21310000131
Tours2013–14Ligue 2362400313925
2014–15Ligue 220000020
Total382400314125
Wigan Athletic2014–15Championship1100000110
Tours (loan)2014–15Ligue 21420000142
Caen2015–16Ligue 1361210113813
Tigres UANL2016–17Liga MX1430021164
Toulouse2016–17Ligue 11550000155
2017–18Ligue 13252020365
Total471020205110
Montpellier (loan)2018–19Ligue 1361410103814
Montpellier2019–20Ligue 126932213112
2020–21Ligue 13015443419
2021–22Ligue 1320032
Total9540863110647
Nice2021–22Ligue 13216523718
2022–23Ligue 11460041187
Total462252415525
Nantes (loan)2022–23Ligue 11204210172
2023–24Qatar Stars League12500781913
Career total3711222410211372423147

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Algeria201971
202031
202110
202220
202320
Total152

Scores and results list Algeria's goal tally first.

+ List of international goals scored by Andy DelortNo. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1.16 June 2019 Jassim bin Hamad Stadium, Doha, Qatar align=center 3–2 align=center 3–2 Friendly
2.16 November 2020 National Sports Stadium, Harare, Zimbabwe align=center 1–0 align=center 2–2 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualification

Honours

Tigres UANL

Apertura 2016[39] Nice

Algeria

Individual

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Algeria . Confederation of African Football . PDF . 1 . 15 June 2019 . 16 July 2019 . 21 June 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190621010626/https://images.cafonline.com/image/upload/caf-prd/kpakgtavgq0lbzxizu89.pdf . dead .
  2. Web site: Andy Delort . OGC Nice . 5 August 2022 .
  3. News: AFP. Delort et Montpellier, une histoire d'amour . 13 February 2021 . Eurosport FC. 2 September 2019 . fr.
  4. News: Billebault . Alexis . Andy Delort, le footballeur français qui rêve d’être sélectionné en Algérie . 23 July 2019 . Le Monde . 30 April 2019 . fr.
  5. News: Okeleji . Oluwashina . Andy Delort: France-born Montpellier striker opts for Algeria . 23 July 2019 . BBC Sport . 29 April 2019.
  6. Web site: In profile: Andy Delort. Wigan Athletic. 1 December 2015. 1 September 2014.
  7. News: Lopes . Jonathan . Andy Delort : " J’ai refusé un contrat du Borussia Dortmund " (1/2) . Sharkfoot . 4 April 2012 . fr . 4 April 2012 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120406180421/http://www.sharkfoot.fr/2012/04/andy-delort-jai-refuse-contrat-borussia-dortmund-part1/ . 6 April 2012 .
  8. News: Medjani suspendu 4 matches. 1 December 2015. Le Figaro. 17 March 2011. fr.
  9. News: Lainé. Guillaume. Andy Delort, buteur à coeur ardent. 1 December 2015. Ouest-France. 6 August 2015. fr.
  10. News: Delort prêté à Metz . Maxifoot . fr . 31 January 2012 . 31 January 2012 .
  11. News: Sakho, maître de la L2. Sakho, mater of the L2. 1 December 2015. L'Equipe. 11 May 2014. fr.
  12. News: Transfer news: Andy Delort deal to Wigan confirmed by Tours. 1 December 2015. Sky Sports. 1 September 2014.
  13. News: McFarlane. Brendan (5 August 2015). Forget Wigan: what Andy Delort Did Next. 10 May 2016. French Football Weekly.
  14. News: Sky Bet Championship: Wigan have allowed striker Andy Delort to returns to Tours on loan. 1 December 2015. Sky Sports. 2 February 2015.
  15. News: Delort completes transfer to SM Caen. sportsmole.co.uk. 2 July 2015. 3 July 2015.
  16. Web site: O'Keefe. Chris. Result: Andy Delort inspires Caen win in Marseille. sportsmole.co.uk. 1 December 2015. 8 August 2015.
  17. Web site: Rennes open talks with Andy Delort . Get Football News France. 30 December 2016. 23 April 2017.
  18. News: Transfert : Andy Delort avec Gignac aux Tigres (Officiel). 2 September 2016. Foot01. 2 September 2016.
  19. News: Ligue 1 : Andy Delort transféré à Toulouse. 27 January 2017. Sud-Ouest. 27 January 2017. fr.
  20. Web site: Ligue 1 : Andy Delort libère Toulouse contre Angers. Le Monde. 5 February 2017. 23 April 2017.
  21. Web site: Andy Delort :Quand tu marques, tu entres dans un état second…. La Depeche. 8 April 2017. 23 April 2017.
  22. News: Andy Delort prêté à Montpellier. 24 July 2018. L'Équipe. 24 July 2018. fr.
  23. News: Ligue 1 : Andy Delort (Toulouse) définitivement à Montpellier. 14 June 2019. L'Équipe. 12 June 2019. fr.
  24. Web site: Wojtowicz . Luka . 2021-04-20 . Avec 41 buts, Andy Delort dépasse Olivier Giroud ! . 2022-10-04 . Esprit Paillade . fr-FR.
  25. News: Transferts : Andy Delort (Montpellier) à Nice, c'est officiel. 12 September 2021. L'Équipe. 28 August 2021. fr.
  26. Web site: Triplete de Andy Delort en el triunfo de Nice ante Stade de Reims por 3-2 . tycsports.com . es . 21 May 2022 .
  27. News: Transferts : Andy Delort (Nice) rejoint officiellement Nantes. 30 January 2023. L'Équipe. 30 January 2023. fr.
  28. Web site: 2023-03-01 . Coupe de France : tombeur de Lens grâce à un doublé de Delort, Nantes se hisse en demi-finale . 2023-03-02 . LEFIGARO . fr.
  29. Web site: Officiel : Andy Delort signe à Umm Salal . 8 July 2023 . 7 July 2023 . fr . Dzfoot.
  30. https://sportnewsafrica.com/en/breve/transfer-news-qatar-andy-delort-leaves-umm-salal/
  31. Web site: 2012-05-05. FC Metz - Premiers pas en grenat pour Delort et Wagué. https://web.archive.org/web/20120505222110/https://www.fcmetz.com/article/joueur/2012-02-01-18-58-09_premiers-pas-en-grenat-pour-delort-et-wagu%C3%A9.html. dead. 2012-05-05. 2021-01-25.
  32. Web site: Montpellier : Andy Delort aimerait jouer pour l'Algérie. L'ÉQUIPE.
  33. Web site: Andy Delort: France-born Montpellier striker opts for Algeria. 29 April 2019. BBC Sport.
  34. Web site: Eurosport. Algeria v Mali game report. 16 June 2019.
  35. Web site: Andy Delort takes break from Algeria national team for a year Get French Football News. 2021-10-08. www.getfootballnewsfrance.com.
  36. https://www.sofoot.com/comment-andy-delort-s-est-metamorphose-a-montpellier-497923.html "ANDY'UP !
  37. Web site: Recevant la médaille de la Ville de Sète, le footballeur Andy Delort dit sa fierté d'être Sétois . 2022-10-04 . midilibre.fr . fr.
  38. Web site: A. Delort. Soccerway. 14 May 2021.
  39. Web site: Andy Delort, de fracasar con Tigres a la final de la CAN.
  40. Web site: 7 May 2022 . Ludovic Blas penalty wins French Cup for Nantes . 11 September 2022 . . en.
  41. Web site: Algeria hold on against Senegal to win Afcon. BBC Sport. 19 July 2019.
  42. Web site: FIFA 21: Andy Delort Is Ligue 1 Player of the Month. 2020-12-25. realsport101.com. en.