Naturally, most footballers at the age of 17, who are on the seam between youth and adult teams, are players whose potential can be seen. You can pretty much see where they can go, how much they stand out from their peers, what their strengths and weaknesses are, and how much their progress graph is something you can control – as a system, as a team, as a coach.
Warren Zaire-Emery, who was called up to France's senior squad for the first time last week by Didier Deschamps and is expected to make his tricolour debut tomorrow (Saturday night, 21.45pm, Sport 2) against Gibraltar in the Euro qualifying campaign, to which the 2018 world champions have already qualified, is included in a very short list of players for whom time is not a necessary measure to understand which players they are. Even at such a young age, you can tell that this is an actor like whom you see only a few in a generation.
Zaire-Emery is a product of PSG's academy, growing up in Aubervilliers in the northern suburbs of the City of Light, not far from where Kylian Mbappe grew up. In the youth department, he always trained with age groups a year or even two older than him and stood out above everyone else. He began training with PSG's senior team at the age of 15 and already last season under Christophe Galtier received quite a few minutes.
Votre 𝐆𝐨𝐚𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡 @ParionsSport est signé Warren Zaïre-Emery 🆚 Brest ! ☄️🤩 https://t.co/uUCjL5Pkj3 pic.twitter.com/7Uqo6DdQpo
— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_inside) November 6, 2023
He played 29 games in Ligue 1 and the Champions League, and even if he came on as a substitute in 20 of them, it was a significant baptism of fire. He made his senior debut in August 2022 at the age of 16 years, 4 months and 29 days, making him the youngest player to play for PSG in an official match, and then, in October, he broke a similar Champions League record when he came off the bench in a 2-7 win over Maccabi Haifa.
Along with all these impressive statistics, for his relatives there was the fear that PSG would behave as it has done quite a bit in the past with its home players when it did not give them a chance, both before the Qatari era (Nicolas Anelka) and when the Qataris arrived (Kingsley Coman), especially in light of the way it has adopted in recent years by bringing in world-renowned stars who have not always been committed to the team. Last summer, PSG decided to change phase after another failure, coming to the conclusion that in order to realize their dream of winning the first Champions League they need to build a balanced team, with players who know their place, without ego, who will give Mbappe the feeling that he is the biggest star of the team and work hard, with Zaire-Emery being the symbol of this revolution.
Montpellier players try to interfere with Zaire-Emery. Amazing physical strengths, Photo: AP
He received from Luis Enrique who replaced Galtier the reins, the confidence and the boy began the big breakthrough. His record so far stands at three assists in four Champions League games, plus two goals and two assists in 11 league games, while against Milan he was voted the best player and drew compliments from all over Europe. "Warren is a diamond," Luis Enrique said, "he knows where to go on the pitch and that's the mark of a great player. It's easy to coach a player like him and his greatest quality is his humility. He is 17 years old. It comes from his upbringing, I think, and from his parents."
Zaire-Emery combines physicality, dribbling and passing ability rarely seen in such a young player at the highest level. His body is compact, with a low center of gravity that allows him to battle shoulder to shoulder with players and overcome them. He rarely gets down to the ground or loses control and has an incredible knack for getting out of a duel with the ball still in his legs. He likes to go forward and get in between opposing defenders and as it looks now, he's on his way to becoming one of the greatest 50-50 midfielders we've ever seen.
The reception of the French players to Zaire-Emery:
L'accueil des Bleus pour le nouveau venu dans le groupe, Warren Zaïre-Emery 🫶#FiersdetreBleus pic.twitter.com/5Nis8osmjC
— Equipe de France ⭐⭐ (@equipedefrance) November 13, 2023
Add to all this the feet that remain on the ground, the fact that he is still in high school, uncompromising seriousness and you get a pretty finished product that barely had time to polish, not that it needed to be polished too much. "It's not normal how he plays," Arsenal and France legend Thierry Henry, who only recently called him up to France's youth team, told CBS News but quickly realised he wouldn't enjoy it too much. "I've never seen such a young actor so mature. This guy has no limit, as far as I'm concerned." Kylian Mbappe also joined the crowd, saying: "Warren has personality and that's what we want at PSG. He's 17 but we don't care. He gives everything he can. Of course he will learn, and he may make mistakes, but we are here to help him because we know he has a rare quality."
And if being called up to the French national team seems like a gimmick so early in his career, then no. Zaire-Emery makes his leap with great timing for Deschamps, who was a midfielder himself. The midfielders who stood out in winning the World Cup five years ago – Paul Pogba, Angolo Kante, Blas Matweedy – have already retired, beyond their peak and the midfielders who should take their place in the new generation such as Aurelien Tchoumani, Eduardo Camavinga are erratic and also suffering from injuries, so the young talent can enter the hole left in the middle of the pitch.
PSG players celebrate with Zaire-Emery being called up to the national team:
Warren Zaïre-Emery, called up by France at just 17... and PSG players celebrate with him 🇫🇷
In case he plays some minutes, he'll become the 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐬𝐭 player ever to debut with France after Camavinga. pic.twitter.com/tyKa8JVm4O
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) November 9, 2023
The hottest sports articles and updates on your Telegram
Join
Apart from Adrien Rabiot, when you look at the other midfielders invited to the squad against Gibraltar and Greece – Capran Thuram (22), Boubacar Kamara (23), Youssef Fofana (24) none of them have the ability of Zaire-Emery. None of them have a better chance of being part of the squad for Germany's Euros this summer, but by the summer, there's still time. Time to enjoy something unique and extraordinary.
Wrong? We'll fix it! If you find a mistake in the article, please share with us