Which club does World Cup star Sofyan Amrabat admire?

James Shearman

• Updated: 14 Dec 2022 22:37 GMT
• 4 min read

Morocco star Sofyan Amrabat has admitted to liking the playing style of Diego Simeone's Atletico Madrid side.

Amrabat has starred at the World Cup in Qatar, helping Morocco to the first semi-final in their history.

He will surely be in the team of the tournament, with many of Europe's top clubs taking note.

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And one of those teams is thought to be Atletico, who the 26-year-old was complimentary towards in a recent interview.

Amrabat told Spanish outlet Marca: ''I have a great coach at Fiorentina. I don’t like to talk about others. But yes, what Simeone does, what he has achieved… he has coached Atletico de Madrid for many years.

''I like his style of play. He has won a lot and I have a lot of respect for him.

''The players on his team are physically strong and aggressive. I like to play that way.''

How good is Sofyan Amrabat?

Amrabat has been arguably the best central midfielder at the 2022 World Cup and the key player for a Morocco team that have stunned everyone in reaching the semi-finals.

He produced world-class displays in the victories over Belgium in the groups, Spain in the last-16 and Portugal in the quarter-final. His partnership with another breakout star in Azzedine Ounahi has been mightily impressive.

Amrabat is a dominant central midfielder with lots of personality. He always demands the ball and is physically strong in possession, and very difficult to shrug off. Although he is not the quickest player, he is very press resistant and is outstanding at keeping the ball when pressured by opponents.

His natural role is as a number six, playing as a holding midfielder whose primary role is to protect his defence and break up attacks. He is an aggressive and tough tackler, who is never scared to put his foot in. This results in a high number of yellow cards.

But he is just as impressive slightly further forward as an outright midfield general in a two or three who can conduct the play.

Amrabat is something of a late bloomer at this elite level. When he moved to Hellas Verona on loan from Club Brugge in 2019, he was not a particularly highly-rated player.

Born in the Netherlands, he had previously played for Utrecht and Feyenoord with little fanfare or buzz.

But at Verona, who had just been promoted to Serie A, he was one of the breakout stars of the season in Italy under manager Ivan Juric.

Amrabat was in many experts’ Serie A Team of the Season as Verona punched well above their weight to finish ninth. This earned Amrabat a transfer to Fiorentina in the summer of 2020.

He was somewhat underwhelming during his first 18 months or so in Firenze - and Fiorentina even considered selling him in January 2022 - but he has found his form again under Vincenzo Italiano in 2022 and is now considered one of the best central midfielders in Serie A.

And at the World Cup, Amrabat has shown without doubt that he has the quality to play for one of the best club teams in Europe.