Andy Delort

Andy Delort (; born 9 October 1991) is a professional footballer who plays as a striker for Régional 1 club Ajaccio.

Born in France, Delort was a France under-20 youth international before representing Algeria at senior level. He has also played for the France beach soccer team.

Club career

Early career Delort was born in Sète, France, to a father of Romani descent, and a mother of Algerian descent. He started his career at Sète. He joined Ajaccio in 2008, having finished top scorer at France U19 league level with 30 goals. After coming through Ajaccio's youth ranks, he attracted interest from Bordeaux and Borussia Dortmund. After enjoying a trial at Borussia Dortmund, playing in the reserve team with Mario Götze and Shinji Kagawa, Dortmund offered him a contract. However, he chose to join Nîmes because of manager Jean-Michel Cavalli, claiming "a player who leapfrogs, burns his wings".

Delort played his first game of Ligue 2 for Nîmes on 30 August 2009, coming on as a 53rd-minute substitute against Metz. During the season, he was rarely used in the first team making only three substitute appearances. He earned promotion to Ligue 1 with AC Ajaccio during the 2010–11 season, after finishing 2nd in the league.

On 31 January 2012, Delort signed a six-month loan deal with Ligue 2 club Metz, where he scored 1 goal in 13 appearances.

He returned to AC Ajaccio for the 2012–13 season, and scored his first goal in Ligue 1 on 27 April 2013 in a 2–1 win over Montpellier. In that season, he made 16 appearances in Ligue 1. In the same season, he scored 12 goals in 16 appearances for the club's reserve team.

Wigan Athletic On deadline day of the summer 2014 transfer window, Delort signed for Championship side Wigan Athletic for a fee reported to be under £3 million. He was given the number 49 shirt. Delort struggled at Wigan and amassed only 11 league appearances for the club, failing to score in any of them. In an interview with Hat Trick, he admitted that he had struggled to settle at Wigan following his sudden upheaval from France.

Return to Tours on loan Having not been able to settle well in England, Delort re-joined Tours on loan until the end of the season on transfer deadline day in the summer of 2015. In doing so, he opted to take a 50% pay cut in order to obtain regular playing time again. In his debut with Caen, he scored his first goal in a 1–0 defeat of Marseille on 8 August 2015. At the start of the following season, Delort refused to attend training during a protracted transfer saga with Liga MX side Tigres UANL.

Tigres UANL On 2 September 2016, Delort's transfer to Tigres was officially announced becoming the second French player to join the team after André-Pierre Gignac. He signed a four-year contract while the transfer fee paid to Caen was reported as €8 million. On 22 October 2016, he scored his first goal in Liga MX with Tigres, against UNAM at the Estadio Olímpico Universitario in a 3–1 victory. He spent less than six months at the club, however, scoring 3 goals in 14 appearances, before returning to France to join Toulouse.

Toulouse On 26 January 2017, Delort returned to France, joining Toulouse on a reported four-year contract and for a reported transfer fee of €6 million. He scored on his debut for the club on 2 February, netting the opening goal in a 4–0 win over Angers, and repeated the feat in his next two appearances against Lorient and Bastia.

Montpellier On 24 July 2018, Delort was loaned to Montpellier until the end of the 2018–19 season with an option to buy. On 12 June 2019, Delort signed permanently with Montpellier. There, he scored a total of 41 goals across all competitions, beating Olivier Giroud's record and became the 3rd best striker of Montpellier in the 21st century.

Nice On 28 August 2021, Delort signed with fellow Ligue 1 side Nice on a 4-year deal. On 21 May 2022, he scored his first Ligue 1 hat-trick in a 3–2 victory over Reims.

Nantes On 30 January 2023, Delort moved to fellow French club Nantes, initially on a six-month loan with an obligation to buy. He scored his first two goals with Nantes during a Coupe de France quarter finals against RC Lens on 1 March 2023.

Umm Salal On 7 July 2023, Delort officially signed for Qatari club Umm Salal on a two-year contract with an option for a one-year extension. The transfer fee of the deal was estimated to be €2.5 million. On 12 February 2024, he terminated his contract with Umm Salal.

MC Alger On 11 September 2024, Delort signed with Algerian club MC Alger on a two-year contract with an option for a one-year extension.

Return to Montpellier on loan On 29 January 2025, Delort returned to Montpellier on loan until the end of the 2024–25 season with an option to buy.

Return to Ajaccio On 10 September 2025, Delort signed for his former club Ajaccio, helping the club after their administrative relegation to the seventh tier of French football.

International career Delort played in the beach soccer team managed by Eric Cantona in 2009. During an amateur tournament in Sète, he was spotted by Laurent Castro, who asked him to play in the qualification for the 2009 World Cup.

Of Algerian nationality through his mother, Delort expressed an interest in representing the Algeria national football team in April 2019.

On 13 June 2019, the Algerian federation announced Delort's inclusion in its final squad for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations. He made his debut three days later in a friendly against Mali, coming on as a substitute for Yacine Brahimi in the 75th minute and scoring the winning goal 5 minutes later in a 3–2 victory.

In October 2021, Delort was not called up to the national team for the recent World Cup qualifiers. Coach Djamel Belmadi revealed at a press conference that Delort himself refused the call-up because he wanted to concentrate on his club career, having recently signed with OGC Nice. Delort confirmed this and said he wanted to take a break from the national team for a year.

Personal life Delort has two children, a son and a daughter. In January 2021, he received the medal of his hometown, Sète from the hands of the mayor François Commeinhes.

Career statistics Club

International

Scores and results list Algeria's goal tally first.

Nice Coupe de France runner-up: 2021–22

Ajaccio Régional 2 Corsica: 2025–26

Algeria Africa Cup of Nations: 2019

Individual Ligue 2 top goalscorer: 2013–14; 24 goals