PROFILE | Téji Savanier – Montpellier’s best hope for Ligue 1 survival | OneFootball

The Montpellier icon, who turned down Milan for La Paillade back in 2019, remains the beating heart of the team. Since joining from local rivals Nîmes, the midfielder has reigned as one of the league’s leading creative forces, particularly from set-pieces, to more than make up for his relative lack of athleticism.

Savanier was the driving force behind Montpellier’s strong finish to the campaign last season, scoring six of his nine goals after the turn of the year, having also assisted another seven. It would be his most prolific campaign in terms of combined goal contributions since his breakout season with Les Crocodiles, which initially prompted his move down the A9 motorway.

As has been the case for the rest of the squad, though, the 33-year-old captain’s form has nosedived in the new season. With just two wins in the first half of the campaign, a beleaguered Montpellier are paying for their lack of investment over the summer, brought on by mounting financial difficulties.

The former Olympian himself has only found the net once, converting a penalty on the opening day of the campaign against Strasbourg. Far from his usual efficiency from set-piece situations, Savanier has been particularly wasteful on the ball since this summer, in line with the general malaise at the Stade de la Mosson.

Savanier’s struggles match MHSC’s collective demise

Whether Savanier’s downturn in form is a product of Montpellier’s struggles or a sign of a general decline remains to be seen, but the midfielder has in any case looked increasingly off the pace physically this season.

This year, the captain has visibly struggled when the opposition’s pressing focuses on blunting his creative impact, and is too easily muscled off the ball. He nevertheless remains the only real creative spark of a team, one which rarely goes unnoticed on the pitch, whatever the result.

Evidently, Montpellier will have no other option but to hope for their loyal playmaker’s undisputed technical quality and combative spirit to lift them out of the depths of the relegation battle again.

After the team were unceremoniously dumped out of the Coupe de France by a fourth-tier side at the end of December, though, it’s even hard to imagine where a reversal in fortunes in Ligue 1 would come from. Savanier, who is under contract for another 18 months, could see his loyalty to his hometown club put to the test if Montpellier’s 17-year stay in the top flight does come to an end this summer.

GFFN | Raphaël Jucobin