Warren Zaire-Emery is PSG and France's next superstar

Neel Shelat

• Updated: 11 Dec 2023 12:23 GMT
• 7 min read

Paris Saint-Germain's Warren Zaire-Emery has enjoyed a stellar 2023. I

In February, he became the youngest-ever starter in a UEFA Champions League knockout game when PSG took on Bayern Munich. Then in the summer, he earned his first call-up to the France U21 camp at the ripe old age of 17. Since Luis Enrique took charge of PSG, he has gone on to establish himself as a regular starter and impressed so much that he became the youngest player to earn a senior cap for France in well over a century.

Zaire-Emery graduated from the esteemed PSG academy having been born and brought up in Paris. Of course, PSG is his boyhood club, but that is often not enough for a player to make it to the senior team. There is a very long list of PSG academy graduates who had to leave in search of senior football and went on to become successful – none more painfully so than Kingsley Coman who scored the winning goal for Bayern Munich in the Champions League final in 2020 against Les Parisiens.

PSG have not offered a good pathway from their youth teams to the senior side in recent decades, but Zaire-Emery is a rare exception and one they aim to replicate in the years ahead.

Aged just 15, he was a key player for their U19s in the UEFA Youth League, where he stood out so much that then-head coach Mauricio Pochettino called him up to train with the senior squad. He started to get a somewhat regular taste of senior football in the 2022/23 season, in which he set the record for being the youngest-ever starter in PSG’s history.

Following some transfer and the arrival of Luis Enrique in the summer, Zaire-Emery has gone on to another level. At just 17 years old, he has become a key player for the champions of France. Given his background, he is unsurprisingly a fan favourite, with many already suggesting he could become PSG’s next superstar when Kylian Mbappe leaves.

In any case, it is safe to say that Zaire-Emery is one of the most talented teenagers in the world of football right now, so let us take a closer look at what makes him so good.

Complete midfielder

Quite simply, Zaire-Emery is very very good at everything a midfielder needs to be good at. Even taking age out of the equation, it would not be outlandish to suggest that the Frenchman has been the best midfielder in Ligue 1 so far this season.

His pizza chart gives us a basic idea of this, depicting him as a high-end midfielder when it comes to ball progression as well as attacking output, and also suggesting that he does a lot of defensive work for a side that tends to dominate possession.

Zaire-Emery has already been asked to play multiple roles by Luis Enrique, who has chopped and changed formations. He started off on the right of midfield in a 4-3-3 but has since also been used on the left of a midfield pairing in a 4-2-4 or 3-4-3. His touch map from the season backs this up, showing involvement all over the shop. Across all these roles, the youngster has shown great tactical intelligence and awareness of his surroundings.

In any case, Zaire-Emery might be thought of as a sort of box-to-box midfielder who can drop back and help progress by receiving passes from the back line before going on to pose a threat in the final third.

His standout attribute might be his ball control and carrying. The French international is a top-class player from a technical point of view as he often appears to have a spell on the ball, but he also is strong in holding off opponents. Although he is usually one of the smaller players on the pitch, his intelligence shines through again as he uses his body very well to shield the ball and can glide past opponents through his quick direction changes and ball manipulation.

It should be no surprise, then, that he has averaged over 9 progressive carries per 90 in the league so far this season.

Zaire-Emery generally likes to carry the ball into the opposition half when he drops back to pick it, but he is far from a ball hog. In fact, he has excellent vision and is always very aware of his teammates’ positioning, so he can play incisive progressive passes with good regularity.

All of these traits sometimes combine in a moment of real brilliance in the final third. Here’s an example: a brilliant assist in the Champions League in the shape of a chipped ball in behind with his weaker foot.

Given everything he does in midfield, Zaire-Emery’s work in the final third is not an essential attribute of his game but rather a crowning jewel. He constantly looks to make things happen at the sharp end of the pitch, which is why he has two goals and five assists in all competitions for PSG this season and has averaged about 2.5 Shot-Creating Actions per 90 in Ligue 1.

Maturity beyond his years

Beyond his apparent on-ball work, perhaps one of the biggest reasons behind Zaire-Emery’s meteoric rise this season is his maturity. Despite being an incredibly highly rated talent throughout his youth career, he appears to be a very grounded young man on and off the pitch.

His understanding of the game and willingness to learn have seemingly made him one of the first names on the teamsheet for Luis Enrique. Further, his rise through the club’s ranks and engagement with the supporters have also made him a fan favourite, so it is safe to say that Zaire-Emery can be expected to stay at PSG for years to come and quite possibly go on to become a future captain.

It may seem crazy to say about a 17-year-old, but Zaire-Emery already appears to be a complete and mature footballer of the highest order. Unquestionably, France and PSG have an absolute gem on their hands.