Barcelona defender Clément Lenglet has made a great improvement in the past several years and he has got the recognition from the legends.
France Football, the magazine that presents the Golden Ball to the best player in the world, also gives the best French footballer in a year. Kylian Mbappé was crowned with 130 votes for the second time, ahead of Karim Benzema (100 votes) and Antoine Griezmann (44 votes).
However, one of the most striking conclusions of the election is to verify the enormous rise of Clément Lenglet. In the final ranking, Lenglet was sixth tied with N'Golo Kanté, just behind Mbappé, Benzema, Griezmann, Hugo Lloris and Raphael Varane.
The former Barça defender Lilian Thuram, the World Cup winner with France in 1998, puts Lenglet as his French player of the year, beating Hugo Lloris, Moussa Sissoko, Mbappé and Benzema.
Luis Fernández, for example, places Lenglet in third place on his personal podium, only behind Karim Benzema and Kylian Mbappé. And Thierry Henry aslo sees Lenglet as the third-best behind Mbappé and Aymeric Laporte.
Laurent Blanc, former Barça player puts Lenglet at fifth place in his ranking, behind Mbappé, Benzema, Blaise Matuidi and Hugo Lloris, which means that, for him, it is now the best defender of France.