A Progress Report on the Form of Bayern Munich Signing Mehdi Benatia

When CAF released their shortlist for the African Player of the Year award, few would have been surprised to see Mehdi Benatia's name.

The defender made the extended shortlist for the award once before (in 2013), but such has been his excellence and consistency over the last 18 months that his name sits easily alongside the finest African players in the world today.

His reputation was forged in Italy, where in the land of defensive excellence he stood out as an elite example of a central defender. It is a position revered in Serie A, and it became apparent during his time with Udinese, and subsequently with AS Roma, that Benatia had all the tools.

After playing his part (and then some) in the capital club’s nearly man side of the 2013-14 season, Bayern Munich came calling.

Having been outclassed 5-0 on aggregate by Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-final last season, Pep Guardiola was under no illusion that his side needed extra steel in defence.

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He turned to Rome, and after a summer “will he, won’t he” saga, Benatia eventually signed for the Bavarian giants for £21 million. The club fought off attention from the likes of Manchester United and Chelsea, as per Ben Jefferson of The Express, to recruit a player who, at 27, appears still to have his prime ahead of him.

"I'm delighted that my transfer to Bayern has finally come off," the defender told Sport1 television, as reported by Sky Sports.

"It dragged out a bit and there were times when I thought it might fall through.

"But Guardiola desperately wanted me and I'm really looking forward to working with him.

"He's a fantastic trainer."

The club, for their part, were hugely complimentary about their new addition.

"We are very convinced by Benatia," said Germany legend and Bayern sporting director Matthias Sammer, as reported by Uefa.com.

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"He is a robust defender, strong in the challenge, with very good ball-playing skills."

When evaluating a player, I always try to understand the expectation that accompanied them upon their arrival at a club or the beginning of a season.

While Bayern spent a considerable fee to recruit the defender, there were some suggestions that he had been bought largely because of Javi Martinez’s cruciate ligament injury. This left the club with only three fit centre-backs: Dante, Jerome Boateng and Holger Badstuber—not enough to mount dual Champions League and Bundesliga title charges.

Badstuber’s subsequent thigh injury, suffered in September, meant that Benatia’s status within the Bayern side grew soon after his arrival.

Bleacher Report’s Bundesliga expert Clark Whitney was, however, positive about the transfer:

Some months later, however, Whitney’s perception had changed. Following the defender’s red card against Manchester City, “Mr. Bundesliga” was much less complimentary.

It’s true that Benatia’s challenge in the Champions League match with City was probably the defining moment of his Bayern Munich career to date.

The Moroccan was unfortunate that it was such a high-profile contest, meaning that while the “tackle” itself was unforgivable, his dismissal was scrutinised more than it would have been had it come in a low-key Bundesliga match.

Leaving his teammates to play City away for 70 more minutes with only 10 men also didn’t help his continental reputation as Bayern, fatigued for having been at a disadvantage for so long, wilted in the final minutes and ultimately conceded three.

In the same way that the Lady in Red misrepresents Chris DeBurgh’s career, or in the same way that Brown-Eyed Girl does Van Morrison’s, that (brief) performance against City grossly misrepresents Benatia’s time at Bayern so far.

Admittedly, it’s easier to thrive in a successful team, not to mention one as brutally dominant domestically as Bayern, but Benatia deserves credit for the way he has adapted to a new team, a new league and a new nation.

He has played his part in seven clean sheets for FCB and, impressively, since the beginning of the season, Bayern have only conceded two goals (against former club Roma in October, one against Borussia Dortmund) while Benatia has been on the pitch.

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In possession, he isn’t as influential as his fellow centre-back Dante; according to WhoScored, the Brazilian has averaged 73.8 passes per match in the Bundesliga this season, succeeding with 90.3 percent, while Benatia’s stats, 65.6 and 88.7, are not quite up to the same standard.

For now, it has to be a “thumbs up” for Mehdi Benatia from the Bleacher Report team. Any defender who concedes only two goals in his first 10 games for a new country is doing something right, even if his most visible contribution was disastrous.

Benatia’s true worth, however, will be discovered later in the season. He won’t be travelling to the Cup of Nations anymore, which is fortunate for Bayern, and he will ultimately be judged on his performances in the truly decisive fixtures at the year’s end.