Who is Sofyan Amrabat? World Cup’s best midfielder wanted by Liverpool and Tottenham

Carlo Garganese

13 Dec 2022 13:00 GMT
5 min read

Sofyan Amrabat has emerged at the 2022 World Cup as one of the stars of the tournament.

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The Fiorentina midfielder has been a revelation as Morocco made history in becoming the first African and Arabic nation to ever make the World Cup semi-finals.

This has led to Amrabat being linked to some of the biggest clubs in Europe.

So what do we know about the 26-year-old?

What position does Sofyan Amrabat play in?

Amrabat is a central midfielder. He is just as capable playing as a holding midfielder as he is as an outright centre midfielder in a midfield two or three.

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.

Amrabat has made the joint-most ball recoveries at the World Cup among midfielders, together with Marcelo Brozovic. Only the Croatian has made more tackles in Qatar among all players than Amrabat.

Amrabat appreciation tweet pic.twitter.com/OSOJE3lA3I
— Troll Football (@TrollFootball) December 6, 2022

Amrabat 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 at the age of 23 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.

© ProShots - Amrabat in action against Croatia

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. He 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.

What clubs are interested in Sofyan Amrabat?

Tottenham were close to signing Amrabat during the January 2022 transfer window. Talks were at an advanced stage over a loan move with option to buy but the transfer fell through at the last minute when Fiorentina opted to offload Erick Pulgar instead.

Six months earlier, Napoli and Atalanta - two teams who always have an eye for unpolished diamonds - tried to sign him.

Fast forward to today and Tottenham’s transfer chief Fabio Paratici is still interested. Liverpool also are big admirers of Amrabat, with manager Jurgen Klopp known to be in the market for a new top central midfielder.

PSG have also been heavily linked, as have rivals Marseille, although they will likely now be priced out given the player’s form in Qatar.