Barcelona's conqueror snubs African roots, chooses to play for France

Monaco players celebrate Maghnes Akliouche's goal against Barcelona | Imago

Barcelona's conqueror snubs African roots, chooses to play for France

Ayoola Kelechi 22:58 - 21.09.2024

The Monaco star will now focus his attention on playing for France after rejecting the country of his parents' birth

Monaco forward Maghnes Akliouche has reportedly rejected the opportunity to represent Algeria, his parents' homeland, in favour of pursuing a career with the French national team.

Despite being courted by Algeria’s Fennecs, Akliouche has made his intentions clear, as he only wants to wear the colours of France.

Akliouche's dumps Algeria for France

Born in France to Algerian parents, Akliouche has made his intentions clear after already representing France more than a dozen times at the U20 and U21 levels.

var widgetLoaderConfig = widgetLoaderConfig || { CDN_URL: 'https://widgets.sportal365.com', APP_LINK: 'desktop', API_URL: 'https://africa.football.api.sportal365.com/', API_KEY: '2f852b4de2f3a5cf3188e74b33087bb4:2c18422f8e826a7d11aeed52edb2449e', LANG: 'en', REQUEST_INTERVAL: 30, ENABLE_BET_SLIP: false, AUTHOR: false, THEME: "light", TOURNAMENT_ORDER: "pulse_nigeria", LINK_OPTIONS_V2: { 'player' : { 'url': '/football/player/{playerId}' }, 'team' : { 'url': '/football/{teamId}' }, 'tournament': { 'url': '/football/competition/{tournamentId}' }, 'match': { 'url' : '/football/match/{matchId}', 'sort': { 'criteria': 'alphabetically', 'direction': 'asc' } }, 'configuration': { 'newWindow': false }, 'standings_tournament': { 'url': '/football/competition/{tournamentId}/standings' } } }; if (!document.querySelector('script[src="https://widgets.sportal365.com/loader.bundle.min.js"]')) { window.setTimeout(function () { let scriptCss = document.createElement('link'); scriptCss.href = 'https://www.pulsesports.ug/css/sport-widgets.css?v=1668785443'; scriptCss.rel = 'stylesheet'; scriptCss.type = 'text/css'; document.body.appendChild(scriptCss); let scriptTag = document.createElement('script'); scriptTag.src = 'https://widgets.sportal365.com/loader.bundle.min.js'; scriptTag.defer = true; scriptTag.onload = function () { window.setTimeout(function () { new SMPWidgetsLoader(widgetLoaderConfig); }, 200); }; document.head.appendChild(scriptTag); }, 0); } else { new SMPWidgetsLoader(widgetLoaderConfig); }

Akliouche also played a key role for France’s Olympic team, helping Les Bleuets reach the final in the recent tournament.

He now joins his Olympic squad teammate Michael Olise in saying no to Algeria for a chance to play with France’s senior team.

Maghnes Akliouche against Barcelona | Imago
Maghnes Akliouche against Barcelona | Imago Maghnes Akliouche against Barcelona | Imago

Akliouche was instrumental in Monaco’s second-place Ligue 1 finish last season and has continued to shine, both domestically and in Europe for the Principality club.

Akliouche and Ilenikhena wreck Barcelona

The 22-year-old forward was one of the stars of the show during Monaco’s famous 2-1 Champions League victory over Barcelona.

Maghnes Akliouche celebrates his goal against Barcelona | Imago
Maghnes Akliouche celebrates his goal against Barcelona | Imago Maghnes Akliouche celebrates his goal against Barcelona | Imago

The young forward opened the scoring and was a constant threat throughout the match, troubling Barcelona’s defence as Monaco recorded a crucial victory thanks to a late goal by Nigerian forward George Ilenikhena.

Monaco star Maghnes Akliouche | Imago
Monaco star Maghnes Akliouche | Imago Monaco star Maghnes Akliouche | Imago

With Akliouche prioritizing his chances with Les Bleus, Algeria will have to look elsewhere for future talent as they miss out on a rising star with a bright future.