World Cup star dazzled First Lady of France – he’s a future Premier League great

Emmanuel Petit is not the first to hail Ayyoub Bouaddi’s maturity – and it’s no surprise to those who know him on and off the pitch.

The Arsenal legend was among the many fans in awe of the 18-year-old Moroccan’s World Cup debut against five-time winners Brazil.

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The France Under-21 international only sealed his switch to ply his senior international football with the Atlas Lions.

At just 254 days past his 18th birthday, Bouaddi dominated a midfield pairing of Casemiro and Bruno Guimaraes in the 1-1 draw with Brazil.

He managed the most touches (88), won the most duels (11) and completed the most successful passes in the opposition’s half (30).

Bouaddi boasted a pass success rate of 93 per cent, while his 60 completed passes in total made him the second youngest player to complete over 50 passes in a World Cup match in the last 60 years.

‘It will be a fierce battle’ for Bouaddi

“He’s been one of the strongest young players in France,” Petit told talkSPORT Breakfast with Andy Goldstein and Gabby Agbonlahor.

The World Cup winner added: “We’ve seen that against Brazil. He’s shown maturity and personality.

“Even at the end of the game, I saw him try to dribble in his own penalty area.

“The confidence, he’s got quality, he’s got physical presence, he’s got the tactical knowledge, he’s got the technical skills.

“I’m not surprised at all that he’s been targeted for two seasons now with the big clubs in Europe, and it will be a fierce battle to get him.”

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Ayyoub Bouaddi transfer latest

Prior to the World Cup, Bouaddi had already garnered worldwide attention for upsetting the odds against an Ancelotti side.

On the day he turned 17 in October 2024, the 6’1 midfielder was serenaded by Lille ultras for helping the club beat Real Madrid 1-0.

Now, less than two years later, many other Champions League giants find themselves in a race to sign him.

talkSPORT reporter Ben Jacobs revealed that Arsenal and Liverpool have held talks over the Lille player, who is also eyed by Chelsea.

For those clubs that have watched him, there are no doubts over whether Bouaddi’s World Cup showing was a flash in the pan.

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“He’s not the same player as Wayne Rooney, obviously, but I think you get a little bit of that Wayne Rooney or Jude Bellingham feel for him,” European expert Andy Brassell previously told talkSPORT.com.

“In terms of how he’s physically built, it says on his birth certificate that he’s a boy, but he looks like a man immediately.

“He’s someone who can really handle himself, someone who doesn’t give the ball away much, someone who can cover that space box-to-box, and he’s tactically disciplined.”

Despite his obvious future superstardom, not everyone agrees that Bouaddi will be quite ready to hit the ground running in England.

Guardian journalist and African broadcaster Osasu Obayiuwana told White and Jordan, live from New York: “My feeling is that when players are young, because you see, the Premier League is a tough league, you have to be ready to hit the ground running in the Premier League.

“There’s no room for growth, because the managers want the results, not today, they wanted it the day before yesterday.

“So, as an 18-year-old, it depends, as you [Simon Jordan] would know, having owned a club [Crystal Palace], before you pick a player, you do your investigation, you look at the family of the player, the character, to see whether the person has the right mental attitude for the kind of job you want him to do.

“Should he go to the Premier League? I think he should, in time. Is he ready at 18, at the moment?

“I don’t know. It depends, but he is definitely a talented player.”

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However, Bouaddi himself might have something to say about that claim – and it helps that he’s extremely comfortable doing just that.

Unusually for a footballer, the midfielder let his mouth, not his feet, do the talking when he won a national competition for eloquence in France three years ago.

‘I felt like I was facing the President’

In front of Brigitte Macron at the Elysee Palace, Morocco’s No.6 took home the first-placed trophy in the public-speaking contest for players enrolled at professional academies in France.

“Unlike the other players who were there reviewing their notes, he was disconcertingly calm,” recalls Mohamed Slim, president of Promethee Education, which organised the competition.

“In the end, he respected all the conventions of public speaking, captivating the audience and fully embodying what he was doing.

“Ayyoub wasn’t just telling a story; he was speaking with conviction.

“He had the club’s kit, but I felt like I was facing the President of the Republic.”

At just 15-years-old, Bouaddi wowed the judges by saying, ‘The result is what you achieve, and in the end, that’s what you remember.’

Now that he’s come of age, the player likened to a young Rooney will also make sure everyone remembers the name…