Ayyoub Bouaddi didn't join Lille's academy until he'd already turned 14, which in elite footballing terms, is pretty late.
In this age of footballers spending almost the entirety of their young lives within indulgent and overprotective academy surroundings, it is enriching and encouraging to discover a player who did not, whose talent surpasses the majority of those who did.
It's even more remarkable to consider he was starting semi-regularly for Lille shortly after his 16th birthday, playing with the self-assurance and confidence of a much, much more experienced pro.
Ayyoub Bouaddi turning heads with performances in Europe
A useful bellwether for young players is assessing not how much they get right, but how little they get wrong and Bouaddi's accuracy in his passing, positioning and receiving is a great, big tick in the 17-year-old midfielder's box.
It mustn't be overlooked, either, how Bouaddi is more robust on the floor than most central midfielders, never mind players of a similar age to him.
He's a big-bodied ball-carrier in the middle of the park, covers lots of ground in short bursts and beats the first line of a press with his ability to create separations from opponents, leveraging his athletic frame to great effect.
So far, he's earned his spurs in a possession-heavy Lille side, so he's seeing plenty of the ball and getting a good feel for the pressures of the professional game, not that it appears to bother him in the slightest.
Bouaddi is less adventurous than many of the more attacking players who'll feature in 'The Boy's A Bit Special' but his function is a crucial one to how any team operates.
In terms of up-and-coming no.6/8s across world football, there are few as accomplished on the field as Bouaddi, and few who appear as capable of making the jump to a higher level.
FourFourTwo's long-running 'The Boy's A Bit Special' feature has been going since the magazine's first issue, highlighting the best young players in the United Kingdom and abroad.
As of September 2025, we've given it a revamp. Our youth football expert Joe Donnohue will be profiling four teenagers each month, explaining why they're, well, a bit special.
"If you want to look all clever with your mates down the pub when you’re rattling through the next big things in football, mention the name Ayyoub Bouaddi – there’s a good chance you’ll look like a genius in a year or two."Read more about him in SCOUT NOTES.February 23, 2025
Bouaddi was named Man of the Match on only his second UEFA Champions League start back in November 2024, a month after his 17th birthday, and is already giving a good account of himself in Europe's secondary club competition, the Europa League, this season.
Various reports claim Arsenal have sent scouts to watch the teenager, which should not come as a surprise - the majority of Europe's elite clubs will have been to see him several times by now.
Lille have sustained their model and prolonged European participation through the sale of important players for huge fees; Nicolas Pepe, Victor Osimhen, Leny Yoro and Rafael Leao among them - Bouaddi will be the next.
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