Aouar, the French pearl that Zidane falls in love with … and half of Europe

The red thread that connects Houssem Aouar and Karim Benzema is not invisible as the well-known Asian legend tells. Both Franco-Algerians, born and raised in the Lyon suburbs and raised soccer players in the Olympique de Lyon youth academy, seemed destined to meet and they did. Personal friends and a close relationship unites them in which the madridista acts as the OL's 'older brother'. They have not yet met on the pitch but Zinedine Zidane, always vigilant about the French market, wants it to be so.

Houssem Aouar, as Benzema was at the time, is the last jewel of the Rhone club's quarry and Zidane has asked Real Madrid to go after him, according to L'Equipe. Arsenal, Paris Saint-Germain and even Manchester City sounded at the time but now, the whites enter with force with two powerful arguments: their godfather and their idol.

The Frenchman, who has just made the leap to the absolute gala, was born in Lyon 22 years ago. His game is based mainly on creating for others. A 'playmaker' who can play both as 10 in a 4-2-3-1, scheme used by Zidane in recent games, or as 8, a la Modric, in the now classic 4-3-3 of the Marseille coach. This is precisely the great idol of Aouar (there is some similarity in the game, saving the distance) and both, in addition, know each other. The coach coincided with the Lion in a ceremony in Dubai and according to L'Equipe, he would have personally called the OL midfielder to convince him to join the Santiago Bernabéu.

The gap seems assigned to a footballer who has dribbling among his main qualities. The midfielder orients his body very well and perfectly manages ball controls, which he usually turns into dribbling with plastic turns that leave defenders behind. Aouar likes to move with the ball and try to attract defenders to make the last pass (1.3 key passes on average in this start of the League) or to take fouls. If he could be accused of something, it is of holding the ball on his feet, although there is a good part of his talent.

Your data justifies the feelings. As a professional, he has played 140 games in which he has scored 24 goals and 27 assists. That is, he contributed a goal to his team almost every three games without being a pure attacker. So far in the league, although he has barely played a full game, he also registers good numbers in passing success (88%) and, in addition, exceeds 30 shipments per game. A percentage of success similar to Modric and lower than Kroos when compared with pure midfielders, who have passed more balls than him in this start of the competition.

“He is an incredible footballer,” Pep Guardiola said of him back in 2018. Now, with more background in professional football, City has once again shown interest in him and Arsenal is the one that seemed closest to taking over his services although the signing seems stopped. The PSG also pressed, Juventus … Europe sighs for him and, according to L'Equipe, his agent moves so that the Frenchman reaches a team of a somewhat higher level but, the OL will not sell cheap. Thus, according to the French newspaper and confirmed Aulas, president of Lyon, the midfielder has the possibility of staying one more campaign even if he does not play the Champions League. While the treasuries of the big clubs make adjustments to undertake their signing next season due to the lack of funds in this market caused by the stoppage due to the pandemic and to satisfy the economic demands of those from the Rhone.