Reports have surfaced linking Arsenal to Paris Saint-Germain’s academy product, Yacine Adli. Manchester City, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Juventus are also monitoring the 17-year-old’s progress and the North London side will have to come in with a solid offer to land him. It will be a tough ordeal especially due to the meagre £250,000 compensation fee that PSG will be entitled too. All will depend on who comes in with a better offer.
Adli has been with the Parisian club for the entirety of his career but has still not made a first-team appearance. The furthest he has reached towards the first team is training with the senior players. He was quoted, “Yes, I have trained a bit with them in the past. They are the best players in the world.”
In November, Adli was named in the squad for the match against Strasbourg in the Coupe de la Ligue tie but was left as an unused sub. Scouts have noticed his development while playing for the PSG youth team and the UEFA Youth League will be his best chance to impress them further while competing against 64 of Europe’s best sides.
He has played 11 games in the competition previously and has registered a goal against Celtic. He is best suited to the holding midfield role but can play in a more offensive position as well. He possesses the top-pedigree technical abilities which make him a threat at the heart of the park. Maintaining possession and setting up his teammates is a job he is well accustomed to and can be developed further. On occasions for France U17s, he has featured as further forward, usually on the right wing.
Prying him away from the hands of the bosses at Parc des Princes will be tough but Wenger is well adept in these situations. He has already signed Konstantinos Mavropanos from PAS Giannina in the January window – a 20-year-old centre-back and tied down the services of Eddie Nketiah, Matt Macey and Ben Sheaf to long-term deals. The latter trio has been rewarded this season with their senior team debuts and Nketiah shone brightly after scoring twice in the 2-1 win over Norwich City in the EFL League Cup.
Developing the youth squad is one of Wenger’s top-most priorities as the manager of the North London club and Adli will be provided with the opportunity to prove his worth in the big leagues. The Premier League is a different climate all together and in the world of top-pedigree professional football, players are better off preparing for it as early as possible.
