At 17-years-old, previously daunting key stages of life start to become a reality: from personal experience, choosing a suitable college course or apprenticeship to kickstart a successful career and beginning driving lessons are two of the more common decisions that spring to mind; providing stability to an otherwise uninspired AS Monaco defence as they seek survival in Ligue 1 isn’t an opportunity that comes along all too often at 17. But that’s the case for Benoît Badiashile.

The 6″4 mountainous figure was given his big chance by Thierry Henry in less than comfortable circumstances, after going 11 games without a win since the opening day, and collecting only four points in the process, Badiashile was drafted in to nullify the threat of a trio you might have heard of.

Having netted 25 times between them in the opening 12 league games, Neymar, Cavani and Mbappe gave the young centre-back an expected debut to forget, but not one that seemed to faze him. PSG ran away 4-0 winners with Cavani scoring a hat-trick on the night in a game one-sided enough to put a teenage debutant defender off from playing football again, Badiashile, however, went from strength to strength from then on.

Having not featured in a single minute of professional football prior, it says a lot about a young defender that he has started every following fixture, even as Leonardo Jardim replaced Henry for his second spell of the season and transformed their 3-5-2 setup to 4-2-3-1, the 17-year-old remained an integral part of their back four.

A forgettable season from start to finish for the Red and Whites, but the French U19 international is the needle of prosperity in a haystack of hopelessness and could well be one of the few positives to take into next season, providing they escape the drop.

With 15 Ligue 1 appearances and two Champions League games already under his belt, Badiashile has become the driving force in Monaco’s defence whilst ironically been under the driving age in France. Acquiring his license will likely be towards the bottom of his priorities as he strives towards a long career at the top.