PROFILE | Metz’s Gauthier Hein proves he’s a Ligue 1-level player | OneFootball

2025 was the year Gauthier Hein convinced France that his abilities and ambitions lay beyond Ligue 2.

Having joined FC Metz in August 2024 in a deal worth €3m from AJ Auxerre, the 29-year-old proved to be the talisman of a Ligue 2 promotion campaign once again. Les Granats finished third in the 2024/25 season, but beat Stade de Reims over two legs to gain promotion to Ligue 1. Representing his boyhood club, Hein contributed 12 goals and six assists. Yet it was from the New Year that he really kicked on; all of his assists came in 2025, as did eight of his goals – the most notable being his stunning 114th-minute 40-yard lob to emphatically seal Metz’s return to the top flight.

The 2024/25 season thus cemented Hein as Ligue 2’s most accomplished player this decade. It was his third promotion from the league in five years, as well as his third time amassing over 18 goal contributions in a season.

There was, however, a sense that this was all part of the expected. Hein was brought in exactly to do what he did. Whilst still mightily impressive, he didn’t quite answer any new questions French football fans had. Having snubbed the chance of proving himself in Ligue 1 with Auxerre, questions thus lingered over the summer as to whether he could make the next step.

Hein inherits the armband

Hein has silenced the doubters and been a shining light in a season that has, so far, been a sorry showing for Metz. After the summer departure of Matthieu Udol to RC Lens, Hein was announced captain of Les Grenats. He has stepped up to the role.

His football intelligence has shone. He will never be the type of attacking midfielder to take the ball on the half turn and dribble. Rather, Hein uses both his positional awareness and small stature to pick up free space between the opposition’s midfield and defence, before using his technical quality to create. 

Furthermore, he is remarkably efficient with the ball – both the “eye test” and statistics demonstrate how little he loses possession with his passing. He also scored a spectacular goal against former club Auxerre, another side in relegation trouble. Whether either club will be playing in Ligue 1 next season is a question for now unanswered, but if Metz are to remain in the top-flight, you would have to think that Hein will be the reason why.

GFFN | Ed Marsh