Benoît Pedretti

Benoît Pedretti plays as a defensive midfielder at Ajaccio. He was born in the city of Audincourt (France) on 12 November 1980.

His professional career started in 1999 when he signed a contract with Sochaux for five years. Despite his young age and lack of experience in professional football the head manager almost immediately entrusted the place in the starting lineup to a young player. In the period of five years the midfielder made 141 appearances scoring 5 goals.

In 2004 Benoît received a call-up from a more prestigious French club Marseilles. In spite of 31 matches spent in the main squad during the season his performance cannot be called impressive. Therefore the club made a decision to give the player out on loan to Lyon. During the first season he rarely appeared in the main squad because of strong competition for the position of a midfielder. In the 2005/06 season he featured in 10 matches and netted 2 goals.

In 2006 AJ Auxerre that also plays in Ligue 1 set their sights on Pedretti. The head coach wanted to get hold of such a player. That is why the club’s management made every possible effort to acquire that talented midfielder. Benoît signed with the new club a lasting contract until 2011 and the head coach began to place the midfielder in the major squad from the first matches in the season. In five years the player became the team’s mainstay. He scored 12 goals in 154 appearances with the club.

In 2011 Pedretti was bought by Lille and spent two seasons with the club. At the end of the spell he switched for Ajaccio.

From 2002 till 2005 the midfielder starred in 22 matches for the France national football team.