Remy Cabella’s renaissance has become one of Ligue 1’s more surprising subplots of 2023. A stuttering spell at Saint-Etienne ended in 2019 due to an unexpected, but lucrative, move to Russian club Krasnodar just as the former Newcastle, Marseille and Montpellier man was starting to find some semblance of consistency.
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Cabella returned to Ligue 1 in 2023 for a five-game spell with his formative club Montpellier. Having passed 30, his 2012 title-winning peak and four France caps in 2014 long gone, Cabella, although admittedly not match fit, appeared to have been surpassed by a newly dynamic, youthful cohort. His career, it seemed, would wind down.
A free transfer to Lille in the summer of 2022 could easily have been brief and uneventful, perhaps drawing parallels with the club’s unsuccessful attempt to rehabilitate Hatem Ben Arfa the season before. Cabella, however, returned to France looking lean and enthused while displaying an on-field verve not seen for nearly a decade.
A new look Lille, under incoming coach Paulo Fonseca, impressed with Cabella leading the charge. According to FBRef, Cabella made more key passes in Ligue 1 than anyone last season while his 181 short-creating actions placed him third for that metric among Europe’s ‘Big 5’ leagues. Only Lionel Messi offered more than the Frenchman’s 12.1 expected assists in France.
An output of seven goals and ten assists across 32 league outings proved more than useful as Lille finished 5th. That, however, proved to be an underperformance from Les Dogues, one in which Cabella was more complicit than was obvious as individual mistakes cost Lille. Most obviously in defence, giving up key goals at key times too often, but chances were also missed at the other end.
Cabella lacking in statistics this season
Cabella was often to blame and it’s a trend that has continued into the new campaign. Without a league goal by mid-December, Cabella had, by that point, underperformed his expected goals by 4.7 since returning to France full-time in 2022. Just one assist by that point this term also disappointed.
Now 33, and perhaps finally entering the true twilight of his career despite his LOSC rejuvenation, Cabella still comfortably deserves his place in this year’s GFFN 100. His leadership continued relative intensity and creativity in all areas of the pitch remain key for Fonseca, a fact underlined by his presence, at the time of writing, in the league’s top eight for goal- and shot-creating actions per 90, xA per 90 and key passes this term.
Cabella has flaws but his Lille sojourn has become his most impressive since leaving Montpellier in 2014. The real disappointment is that fans of Marseille, Newcastle and Saint-Etienne didn’t see this version of the attacking midfielder more often in what should have been his prime years.
