Why Arsenal should sign Ayyoub Bouaddi
As the Gunners focus on the present, here's a midfielder for their future
Arsenal are in the midst of a crucial summer.
While much of the emphasis has been on their search for a ceiling-raising centre-forward, they’re also undertaking a much-needed renovation of their midfield corps. Jorginho and Thomas Partey have left a hole of almost 5,500 minutes across all competitions last season.
Martín Zubimendi has arrived to fill that void. The Spaniard is a slam dunk, a succession and an upgrade in one swoop – just read this Billy Carpenter analysis for proof. Zubimendi will reportedly be joined by Christian Nørgaard, who can ably replace Jorginho’s steady dependability and leadership.
Some have bemoaned the Danish international’s arrival because he’s not a young, sexy and exciting midfield prospect. But I don’t think Nørgaard prevents the club from making that signing. If anything, he retains Arsenal the opportunity to have a swing.
Lucien Agoumé has been linked. I have a plethora of prospects racing through my mind. But I think, with the safety net now in place, Arsenal should go for the grand slam home run, the potential superstar.
I think Arsenal should sign Ayyoub Bouaddi.
This is not just an argument for that transfer; this is a colossal, 4500-word introduction to Bouaddi the person and player, and a comprehensive breakdown of everything he does on the pitch. By its end, hopefully you’ll understand why he’s rated so highly – and why he would fit perfectly in north London.
783/1000
Find out more
“A footballer can express himself with the ball and a microphone.”
Since the turn of the decade, the French Football Federation has hosted a unique annual event for its academy players: a concours d’éloquence des centres de formations - an ‘Eloquence Competition’. At this event, teenagers with hopes of breaking into elite football are offered not a pitch but a stage, a microphone, and the opportunity to talk about a football topic of their choice in front of an audience.
The fourth edition was held two years ago in the lavishly historical Palais de l'Élysée, residence of the French president, and featured a 15-year-old called Ayyoub Bouaddi.
The subject of his five-minute presentation? ‘Why you should value the process over the result.’ He spoke with “incredible assurance” and captured the attention of the assembly with measured intonations and deliberate gestures, while rarely looking at his notes. He concluded “the result is what we get, but it is the journey that we remember”. He won the competition.
Less than a year later, Bouaddi was starting games for LOSC Lille just days after his 16th birthday. His “incredible assurance” was showcased again on the European stage in Klaksvík, Ljubljana and Graz, as well as across France in Ligue 1.
He racked up 695 minutes across 18 appearances in the 2023/24 campaign, then almost trebled that to 1,863 minutes across 36 appearances in the season just done. The generational Lamine Yamal and freakishly ready Pau Cubarsí were the only players born in 2007 or later to accumulate more in the Big Five Leagues. Next season should see him double those numbers, at least.
He’s not received nearly as much hype as Barcelona’s boys. So before we argue about Arsenal, let me pick up a microphone of my own and explain why Bouaddi is such a standout. I’ll start with the fundamentals of his athletic profile, then break down, in detail, what he does on the pitch.
