Philippe Mexès

AC Milan

On 10 May 2011, Milan CEO Adriano Galliani announced that Mexès would play for Milan the following season, stating the completion of a transfer for Mexès.

Mexès was handed the squad number 5, the same number he had at Roma. He played his first unofficial match for the club in their Primavera, the youth team of Milan. He played only 45 minutes as the game was intended as to aid his recovery from his long term knee injury. On 26 October 2011, he made his debut in Serie A with Milan, in the home match won 4–1 against Parma. He made 24 appearances for Milan in his debut season, and was the club's third choice central defender behind starting duo Alessandro Nesta and Thiago Silva.

The next season, both Nesta and Silva had left the club, while Villareal's Cristián Zapata had been brought in. Mexès and Zapata became Milan's first choice central defensive duo and conceded just 12 goals in the second half of the 2012–13 Serie A season. Mexès scored his first goal for Milan with a spectacular bicycle kick from 20 metres on 21 November 2012, in a 2012–13 UEFA Champions League group match against Anderlecht that was rated one of the best goals of the year. Mexès scored his first goal for Milan in Serie A on 20 May 2013, in the last minutes of the game, giving Milan a third-place finish in the league and their qualification for next year's Champions League.

Mexès scored his first goal of the 2013–14 season in a 3–1 home win against Cagliari, scoring the second goal of the match in the 30th minute of play. He remained a key part of Milan's back four during the season. In a Serie A match against Juventus, Mexès received a second bookable offence late on in the game for a punch on Juventus' Giorgio Chiellini, a punch which subsequently earned him a four match suspension.

On 8 July 2015, Milan announced Mexès had signed a contract extension to keep him at the club until 2016. In November 2015, Mexès was nominated for the FIFA Puskás Award for his goal in an International Champions Cup friendly match against Inter, a well struck volley from the edge of the area, on 25 July 2015.

On 14 May 2016, Mexès played his last game for AC Milan in a 3–1 loss against AS Roma at San Siro, in which he was also the team's captain. A week later, he was on the bench for the 2016 Coppa Italia final against Juventus but did not play.

On 25 May 2016, club owner Silvio Berlusconi announced his departure, along with those of Kevin-Prince Boateng and Mario Balotelli. After leaving Milan, he did not find any club for over a year. In November 2017, he announced his retirement.

International career

Mexès played for the under-18 and under-21 France national teams, as well as the senior team, where he was a squad member at the UEFA Euro 2012 competition.

Personal life Mexès and his ex-wife, Carla, have two children together, born in 2003 and 2007. He has another child (born 2012) with his current wife, Véronique.

Media Mexès features in EA Sports' FIFA video game series; he was on the cover of the Italian edition of FIFA 12, alongside Giampaolo Pazzini, and global cover star Wayne Rooney.

Career statistics Club Source:

International

France score listed first, score column indicates score after each Mexès goal

Honours Auxerre Coupe de France: 2002–03

Roma Coppa Italia: 2006–07, 2007–08

AC Milan Supercoppa Italiana: 2011

France U18 UEFA European Under-18 Championship: 2000

France FIFA Confederations Cup: 2003

Individual Ligue 1 Team of the Year: 2002–03