The 28-year-old defensive player has been a Borussia Dortmund player since July 2023. He previously played for Borussia Mönchengladbach.

''My job is to prevent goals from being scored,’’ says Ramy Bensebaini. But that doesn’t prevent him from making waves going forward, as he seems to do remarkably often against big-name opponents. 12 of his 23 goals in the Bundesliga and the DFB-Pokal have come against Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund (both four), Frankfurt (three) and Leipzig (two). He has also netted twice in the UEFA Champions League, including a goal against last year’s finalists Inter Milan.

After appearing for just a single season in Europe’s elite club competition during his time at Gladbach (2019 to 2023), the Algeria international is now looking forward to having a permanent place at the top table with Borussia Dortmund. Not long after the final whistle had blown on the 2022/23 season, he signed a four-year deal with BVB. Why? “That’s an easy one: because Dortmund are one of the biggest clubs in Germany and across the world. I had long conversations with sporting director Sebastian Kehl. He really sold the project well,’’ said Bensebaini in an interview with BVB-TV.

''Ramy is a player in his prime years. He has gained vast domestic and international experience in the Bundesliga, Ligue 1, the Champions League and the Europa League, not to mention the fact he is a regular in his national team. We are convinced that he is yet to finish developing as a player. In our conversations with him we could see his burning desire to fight for Borussia Dortmund and compete for titles. We’re really looking forward to working with a player who possesses such a strong balance between defensive and offensive ability,’’ says sporting director Sebastian Kehl.

Bensebaini was born and raised in the city of Constantine in eastern Algeria. At 12 years of age, he moved to the capital Algiers to join the youth set-up of Paradou AC. There, more of an emphasis was placed on ball control. ''The most important thing for them was the first touch. They wanted us to receive the ball perfectly and then make the right decision in how we played it on,'' he explained in a September 2020 interview with the news portal Spox. During his time at Paradou, he also experienced training methods which would be deemed unconventional by European standards. For example, the youngsters trained and played barefoot – and even without a goalkeeper! ''We had 11 outfield players. The idea was to hone our collective defending. Pressing, staying tight to your man, chasing balls down – that was what it was all about. We couldn’t let the opposition shoot, because if they did, they would score, as there was no-one in goal to prevent the ball going in.''

At 19 years of age, he moved to Belgium to join Lierse SK. He followed this up with spells at French clubs Montpellier and Rennes, lifting the Coupe de France in 2019 with the latter thanks to a win over Paris St. Germain in the final. Bensebaini scored in the shoot-out triumph. He also scored the winning goal in the semi-final win over Lyon. That same year, he also won the Africa Cup of Nations with Algeria.

In the summer of 2019, he moved to Germany to join Borussia Mönchengladbach, where he made his debut appearance in the Bundesliga on 14 September against 1. FC Köln. By May 2023, he had made a further 94 appearances and scored an impressive 19 goals. ''I love winning and hate losing,'' says Bensebaini as he sums up his sporting ambitions, while immediately after putting pen to paper at BVB, he commented: ''I don't need to say much about Borussia Dortmund’s pulling power. The extraordinary atmosphere at Signal Iduna Park, which pushes the team, is something that I’ve experienced myself as an opposing player," said Ramy Bensebaini, adding: "I know what BVB are capable of and I’m sure that as a team we will build on the second half of last season. I can hardly wait to be part of BVB, compete for titles and experience this special atmosphere in Dortmund." In his private life, the Algerian describes himself as someone who doesn’t like going out and would rather spend time at home.