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#3 Franck Ribery | Olympique Marseille to Bayern Munich
Bilal Yusuf Mohammed, more commonly known as Franck Ribery, is another one of French football's finest products since the turn of the century. Much like Kante, Ribery has played across multiple levels of French football, going as far down as the Championnat de France Amateur, the fourth tier in France. His superb displays eventually earned him a move to top-tier side Metz.
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Ribery's career as a top-division player took flight after a move to Galatasaray and a controversial return to France to play for Marseille. This, coupled with his heroics at the 2006 FIFA World Cup, earned him fame all across the continent, and Bayern Munich came calling with a club-record fee of €30m at the time.
The nine-time Bundesliga winner played 80 times in France's top-flight, scoring 13 goals and assisting 18. He went on to finish third in the 2013 Ballon d'Or standings after a historic treble-winning campaign with the Bavarians. Ribery is currently on the books of AFC Fiorentina in Serie A.
#2 Karim Benzema | Olympique Lyon to Real Madrid
Real Madrid superstar Karim Benzema is generally regarded as one of the best strikers of his generation. Having spent over a decade at the highest level of the game, there is no available trophy at the capital club that Benzema hasn't won. The striker's honours include three LaLiga Santander titles, two Copas del Rey, and a staggering four UCL titles with Los Blancos.
However, it was at Olympique Lyon where it all began for Benzema, who rose through the ranks at Les Gones' academy. The Frenchman joined OL's youth set-up at the age of ten and made his way into the first team. He scored a whopping 20 goals, set up nine in 36 league games during the 2007/08 campaign and sealed his status as one of the hottest prospects in French football.
Before moving to Real Madrid for €35m in 2009, Benzema scored a total of 66 goals and assisted 26 for Les Gones in Ligue 1. He was also mighty impressive for Lyon in the UCL, racking up 12 goals and three assists in just 19 games. Benzema won four successive Ligue 1 titles among other major honours with France.
#1 Ronaldinho Gaucho | Paris Saint-Germain to Barcelona
Brazilian icon Ronaldinho could be argued to be one of the best exports in Ligue 1 history. The attacking midfielder moved to Barcelona €30m in 2003 as the club's marquee signing after missing out on the likes of David Beckham and Thierry Henry. Ronaldinho sparked a struggling Blaugrana side back to life and inspired them to their first UCL title in 14 years.
However, before he lit up the Nou Camp before Lionel Messi took centre-stage, Ronaldinho ran the show for France's capital club. The Ballon d'Or winner moved to PSG from Brazilian side Gremio for a €5m fee and announced himself on the European stage.
He played 77 times for PSG, scoring 25 goals and setting up a further 17. Ronaldinho played across some notable football figures such as Jay-Jay Okocha, Mauricio Pochettino, and Mikel Arteta, among others in Paris before moving to Barcelona.
Also read: Top 5 goalscorers in La Liga this season (2020-21)
