Maxime Lopez

Maxime Baila Lopez (Spanish: López, pronounced [ˈlopeθ]; born 4 December 1997) is a French footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Serie A club Sassuolo, on loan from Marseille.

Maxime Lopez
Lopez with Marseille in 2017
Personal information
Full name Maxime Baila Lopez
Date of birth (1997-12-04) 4 December 1997
Place of birth Marseille, France[1]
Height 1.67 m (5 ft 6 in)[1]
Position(s) Attacking midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Sassuolo
(on loan from Marseille)
Number 8
Youth career
2003–2010 Burel FC
2010–2016 Marseille
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014–2016 Marseille II 30 (3)
2016– Marseille 109 (4)
2020– → Sassuolo (loan) 11 (1)
National team‡
2016–2017 France U20 3 (0)
2017–2019 France U21 13 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 22:29, 10 January 2021 (UTC).
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 24 March 2019

Lopez is an academy graduate of Marseille, having made his professional debut in August 2016 and appeared in 150 games for the side. He also represented France internationally at youth level.

Club career

Early career

Born in Marseille, Maxime Lopez is a product of Olympique de Marseille's football academy, having joined in 2010 from F.C. Burel. During his time in the academy he represented the club at U-19 level in the UEFA Youth League.[2] He signed his first professional contract with Marseille on 12 July 2014, and was handed his non-competitive debut by interim manager Franck Passi on the same date two years later in a friendly encounter with Lausanne Sport.[2][3]

2016–17 season

Lopez made his senior debut for Marseille on 21 August 2016, coming on as a 60th-minute substitute for Bouna Sarr in a 2–1 Ligue 1 away defeat to Guingamp and, just 18-minutes after entering the field of play, assisted Florian Thauvin for Marseille's only goal.[4] His home debut at the Stade Vélodrome came on 16 October in Marseille's 1–0 Ligue 1 win over Metz.[5] Later that month, on 30 October, he made his first start for Marseille in a 0–0 Ligue 1 home draw with Bordeaux.[6] On 20 November, Lopez made 129 touches during Marseille's 1-0 Ligue 1 home win against Caen, which was the most ever by a Marseille player in a single match in recorded history.[7] He then scored the first goal of his senior club career on 10 December, netting the opening goal in Marseille's 2–1 Ligue 1 away victory over Dijon.[8] Lopez was later named Ligue 1 Player of the Month in recognition of his performances throughout the month of December.[9] On 30 April 2017, he scored twice in a 5–1 Ligue 1 away win over Caen, thereby becoming the youngest Marseille player in 30 years to score a brace in Ligue 1.[10] He ultimately made 35 appearances across all competitions and scored three times in his debut season with Marseille.

2017–18 season
Lopez warming up with teammates Florian Thauvin and Morgan Sanson ahead of Marseille's Europa League encounter with Red Bull Salzburg.

The following season, Lopez temporarily retained his starting berth in Marseille's midfield under coach Rudi Garcia, but lost his position following a dip in form during the campaign's opening matches.[11] On 19 October 2017, he scored his first and only goal of the season, and his first ever in European competitions, when he netted in a 2–1 Europa League group-stage win over Vitória de Guimarães.[12] He made his 50th league appearance for Marseille on 15 April 2018 in a 3–2 victory over Troyes.[13] He continued to feature regularly in the club's Europa League campaign and helped the side reach the final of the competition, where he appeared as a substitute in a 3–0 loss to Spanish side, Atlético Madrid.[14]

2018–19 season

Lopez scored his first goal of the following campaign, and his first in the league since April 2017, in a 1–1 draw with Monaco on 15 January 2019. His performance earned him the man of the match award and saw him named as the highest performing player in the league over the weekend.[15] The following week, he made his 100th appearance for the club in a 2–1 league loss to Saint-Étienne.

Loan to Sassuolo

On 5 October 2020, Lopez joined Serie A club Sassuolo on a season-long loan with option to buy.[16]

Style of play

Due to his Algerian lineage and similar progression through Marseille's academy, Lopez has often been likened to former Marseille midfielder Samir Nasri.[17] Though small in stature, Lopez has been described as a versatile playmaker capable of fluid movement and quick and intelligent passing.[18]

Personal life

Lopez was born in France to a Spanish father, and an Algerian mother. His older brother, Julien is also a footballer who plays in the Ligue 2 with Paris FC and was a youth international for Algeria.[19]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 6 January 2021[1][20]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup1 League Cup2 Continental3 Total
LeagueAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Marseille II 2013–14 CFA 2 20———20
2014–15 CFA 2 20———20
2015–16 CFA 232———232
2016–17 CFA 31———31
Total 303———303
Marseille 2016–17 Ligue 1 3033020—353
2017–18 Ligue 1 2404000171451
2018–19 Ligue 1 321101050391
2019–20 Ligue 1 2304000—270
2020–21 Ligue 1 4000000040
Total 1134120302211505
Sassuolo (loan) 2020–21 Serie A 11100——111
Career total 1488120302211859

1 Includes Coupe de France and Coppa Italia matches.
2 Includes Coupe de la Ligue matches.
3 Includes UEFA Europa League matches.

Honours

Club

Marseille

Individual

References
  1. "Maxime Lopez Player Details". Olympique de Marseille. Archived from the original on 8 April 2017. Retrieved 4 November 2016.(in French)
  2. Haddouchi, Karim (12 July 2014). "Maxime Lopez, la tradition du n°10". Olympique de Marseille. Archived from the original on 14 January 2019. Retrieved 10 November 2016.(in French)
  3. Wicherek, Constant (12 July 2016). "Amical : la première compo de l'OM dévoilée". Foot Mercato. Retrieved 12 July 2016.(in French)
  4. Eostain, Frédéric (22 August 2016). "Première passe décisive pour Lopez". Olympique de Marseille. Archived from the original on 21 November 2016. Retrieved 22 August 2016.(in French)
  5. "OM-Metz: "I still have chills" (Lopez)". La Provence. 17 October 2016. Retrieved 17 October 2016.(in French)
  6. Quelen, Julien (31 October 2016). "Meet Maxime Lopez: The new Nasri wanted by Liverpool and Arsenal". Goal. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
  7. Bairner, Robert; Quelen, Julien (21 November 2016). "Better than Verratti: Marseille's 'new Nasri' is setting records tumbling". Goal. Retrieved 26 November 2016.
  8. "Marseille Grind Out Win in Gloom". Ligue 1. 10 December 2016. Retrieved 10 December 2016.
  9. Ali, Mohammed (1 February 2017). "Maxime Lopez: Marseille's New Star Winning Admirers". French Football Weekly. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
  10. "Thauvin and Marseille Sweep Away Caen". Ligue 1. 30 April 2017. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
  11. "Maxime Lopez: un arrêt au stand pour mieux revenir?". Le Phoceen. 6 October 2017. Retrieved 6 October 2017.(in French)
  12. "Maxime Lopez supera su crisis y se reivindica". Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 20 October 2017. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
  13. "OM: Lopez, 20 ans, deja 50 matches de L1". Football Club de Marseille (in French). 17 April 2018. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
  14. "Griezmann inspires Atlético to Europa League glory". UEFA. 16 May 2018. Retrieved 21 May 2018.
  15. "Lopez supera a Pepe y Draxler: El índice de rendimiento de la Ligue 1" (in French). Goal. 15 January 2019. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
  16. "Transfer window: Maxime Lopez is a new player of Sassuolo". U.S. Sassuolo Calcio. 5 October 2020. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
  17. Quelen, Julien (8 November 2016). "Meet Maxime Lopez: The new Nasri wanted by Liverpool and Arsenal". Goal. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
  18. Dudko, James (4 November 2016). "Liverpool Transfer News: Latest on Moussa Marega and Maxime Lopez Rumours". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
  19. "Maxime Lopez: "I'm focused on the French team"". DZFoot. 14 March 2017. Retrieved 16 March 2017.(in French)
  20. "Maxime Lopez Socceway Profile". Retrieved 4 November 2016.
  21. https://www.bbc.com/sport/live/football/44052050
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