PROFILE | Same Jonathan Clauss, new team | OneFootball

The conditions for Jonathan Clauss to thrive have been very far from optimal this year, and despite that, firstly at Marseille and then at Nice, he has kept at a leave sufficient to see him still regularly called up to the France squad. It is no small achievement given the adversity that he has faced.

At the start of the year, he found himself under attack from the hierarchy of his own club. Clauss was the target of, at the very least, stinging criticism from OM sporting director Medhi Benatia, and in the eyes of the UNFP, “bullying.”

“I arrived in the month of November and I was warned about two or three players, whose behaviour was sometimes a bit borderline. Jonathan Clauss was one of those players,” said Benatia before doubling down and stating that the former RC Lens full-back had “behavioural issues”. Those comments came amid suggestions that Clauss was preserving himself for EURO 2024, with the full-back desperate to make the France squad, unlike during the 2022 World Cup when he was surprisingly omitted at the last minute, having featured in the squads leading up to the tournament.

Clauss’ contribution at OM undervalued

Marseille desperately tried to sell Clauss in the final days of the January transfer window but to no avail and amid a crisis at the club, as they burned through four managers in just one season, ultimately missing out on all forms of European football, the France international became a scapegoat. Despite all of that, he registered an impressive 17 goal contributions for OM last season, including 12 assists – not bad for a defender.

Given the hostility, it was clear that Clauss, despite being a rare bright spark in Marseille’s season, would be moving on this summer. The opportunity to reunite with Franck Haise, under whose stewardship he initially reached Les Bleus’ set-up, was an unmissable one. At the Allianz Riviera, Clauss continues to do what he does best. As an attack-minded wing-back, he already has four assists for his new club, despite featuring in a side that, in the absence of the injured Terem Moffi, is without an out-and-out goal-scorer. Going forward, there are few better ‘defenders’ in Ligue 1 that can rival Clauss’ efficiency. Defending remains an issue, and at the age of 32, that looks highly unlikely to ever change but if used effectively, he can be a game-changer, as he continues to prove at Nice.

GFFN | Luke Entwistle