Friday, March 24, 2023 at 00:00• Rian Rosendaal • Last update: 12:49

Football zone regularly highlights young players in the NXGN series who can go far in the future or who are already earning their spurs in (inter)national top football. This time the focus is on the only seventeen-year-old Warren Zaire-Emery, the growth brilliant in the midfield of Paris Saint-Germain. In February, the French-Martinican footballer was even the youngest player ever in the knockout phase of the Champions League at 16 years and 343 days.

Zaire-Emery is perhaps the player with the greatest future prospects in PSG’s current squad. There is never a shortage of talented players at the superpower from Paris. The famous youth academy produced all the necessary talents who later grew into big stars, although that made other clubs especially happy. Good and talented players are usually plentiful, but the problem is that these talents are rarely integrated into PSG’s senior squad. However, Zaire-Emery seems to be an exception to the rule in the French capital.

It is the fate of many big and ambitious clubs. There are countless stars who all want to play. On the other hand, the sky-high ambitions and the associated pressure mean that talents cannot really develop and it is almost forbidden for them to make mistakes. As a result, a trainer in most cases chooses established stars. Moussa Diaby, Christopher Nkunku, Kingsley Coman, they were all trained by PSG, before becoming stars elsewhere. Because this trio got what is most important for young talents at other clubs: to play every week.

Another mega talent from PSG may be able to break this circle. Zaire-Emery has just turned 17 on March 8, but the defensive midfielder can already look back on a surprising amount of playing time in the star ensemble of the French champions. And there are already the necessary people who credit him with a top career. In any case, the still very young midfielder already knows what it is like to play in the Champions League. In the first leg in the eighth final of the billion dollar ball against Bayern Munich, trainer Christophe Galtier dared to give him a starting place. Zaire-Emery showed at times that they have a lot of talent, although that was not enough to avert the 0-1 defeat in the Parc des Princes.

The first steps
Zaire-Emery was born on March 8, 2006 in Montreuil, a suburb of Paris. His technical skills were noticed early on, recalls father Franck Emery in conversation with RMC Sports. “I was at a tournament in Trappes with my cousin, and Warren was there too. A ball came rolling towards me and I shot straight over thirty yards and through the air at Warren. He took the ball on his chest, as if he trained on it every day. My cousin and I looked at each other and said, “That’s not wrong!” As an amateur coach, Emery senior also often involved his son in training: “If the experienced players did not perform certain exercises well, I would ask Warren to demonstrate, even when he was only nine years old.” in the PSG academy and it wasn’t long before he made his way into the Under 11 side.

Youth trainer Bafode Diakite lays down RMC Sports why Zaire-Emery was allowed to skip some age categories. “His presence started to work counterproductive. Warren always solved everything when he lost the ball, so his teammates made less and less effort.” The great talent continued to develop and in 2021, as a fifteen-year-old, already ended up in the Under 19 team. Zaire-Emery made a big impression with his performances in the UEFA Youth League and partly because of this received the Titi d’Or in 2022, the prize for the best player from PSG’s youth academy. According to GOAL and SPOX his stormy development caught the attention of Bayern and the interest from Germany has not cooled yet. The Record Master is increasingly looking for talent across the border and with that approach, for example, picked up Jamal Musiala at Chelsea.

Warren Zaire-Emery in action against Bayern Munich in the Champions League.

Main weapons
Despite his young age, Zaire-Emery is already a very versatile player. “He is originally right-footed, but can use both legs,” emphasizes a scout from a top European club in conversation with GOAL and SPOX. “And his first touch is almost always good, that is perhaps his greatest strength. He can also deliver great and flawless passes. He is a complete player who knows how to reach a high level in every game.” PSG’s talent is also an example to his peers off the pitch. “I have never seen anyone his age behave so professionally. Warren has received a good education and is a hard worker. He always behaves in an exemplary manner and knows exactly when to take a rest.”

The new Emmanuel Petit?
A workhorse in a controlling role in midfield, who can tackle and pass and is dangerous with long shots? Everything that Zaire-Emery is considered capable of, Emmanuel Petit has shown during his career. Due to his height (1.85 metres), Petit was a lot further in terms of head power, but just like Zaire-Emery, Petit was able to optimally use defensive and offensive qualities. That put his teammates in the spotlight. However, one should be careful with such a comparison, because the further development of Zaire-Emery cannot be predicted. To know where his ceiling may lie, it is always good to dive into the history books.

And now?
PSG and Zaire-Emery agreed a new contract last July, with a term until the summer of 2025. The club management is therefore in no hurry to hand out a new commitment to the midfielder. It is true, however, that his stormy development has increased the interest of other clubs. And as usual with PSG, everything depends on the playing time Zaire-Emery will get in the first team. Being on the training field every day with players like Kylian Mbappé, Lionel Messi and Neymar is of course a huge stimulus for any young player. But in the end there is nothing more important than gaining match rhythm. If that does not happen for the seventeen-year-old in the coming months and years, PSG could just lose another mega talent.

As a central midfielder, Zaire-Emery must be able to hold his own physically. And even if not everyone goes through a transformation like Leon Goretzka, it is something the midfielder can still take steps in. Given his position, he can still add some accents on a defensive level. Experience at the top level is still lacking, although Zaire-Emery has already shown more than once that he is tireless and is not averse to hard work. There is sometimes still too little conviction in the offensive field, while taking the lead can also be improved. Fortunately for the ambitious Zaire-Emery, none of these are insurmountable problems.

Loving Ronald de Boer
The hype surrounding Zaire-Emery has now also reached the Netherlands. Analyst Ronald de Boer praised the midfielder on Saturday after his performance against Stade Brest (1-2 win). “He just turned seventeen. And if you play so mature… Normally it gets exciting in the last ten minutes, but nope. They just leave him for ninety minutes. He doesn’t do crazy things at all and plays so mature “It’s a controller, but can also dribble in if he wants to. Left and right, it’s really a game accelerator. He really stands on the field like a general. And he doesn’t blink or blush like a seventeen-year-old boy. It’s really fantastic.” , said the lyrical former player.

“He looks a bit like Justin Kluivert when I see his face,” De Boer continued his analysis of the PSG star. “He looks a bit like it, also how he moves. Only he is a little more to the back as a controller. If you just have a basic place with these kinds of players around you…. You have to beat the game (against Brest, ed. ) win and many players go out. And he just stays there as a seventeen-year-old boy. Handsome. He was eventually posted a bit as a right back, he actually covered the entire right flank. But he can do that too. He is a multifunctional boy” , concluded the impressed De Boer.