Lille’s 17-Year-Old Prodigy Excels on Field and in Classroom

Youngest player in the history of European cups, youngest in Ligue 1 in the 21st century, baccalaureate at 16 with one year ahead, very good honors, winner of the eloquence competition of the training centers whose final took place at the Élysée... At only 17 years old, Ayyoub Bouaddi amazes. In a statement to La Voix du Nord in 2023, Mickaël Delestrez, former director of the Losc training center, praised the young talent in these terms: "We very quickly detected a very intelligent player, with a lot of humor, able to joke with adults in situations where many young people of his age are very shy".

Bouaddi made an impression for his first start in the Champions League (98% successful passes against Real). "He’s a special kid, ahead mentally," Sébastien Pennachio, who coached him for a season in U19 when he was just 15 years old, told franceinfo. He added: "He has very important athletic qualities and the ability to quickly appropriate the advice we give him. He knows how to block out the contexts to focus on what he has to do. He has never been disturbed by the outside and is accompanied by an extraordinary family. You can play him against Real, he is reliable, he quickly reaches the level of intensity".

In January, Paulo Fonseca, the coach who launched Ayyoub as a professional, did not skimp on praise for the Franco-Moroccan. "It’s not easy to have a 16-year-old player capable of playing the way he does," he acknowledged. "We are here to help him, guide him, support him when things are not going well," Bruno Génésio continued this summer, in tune with his Portuguese predecessor on the Lille bench.

On the international level, Ayyoub has not yet chosen his sporting nationality. He was part of the latest selection of the French Under-21 team.

Studies have a particular importance for Ayyoub. He has started a degree in physics and mathematics and explained his choice. "It brings me something, it keeps my mind awake. We know that today, in modern football, tactics are very important," assures the Lille midfielder.