Warren Zaïre-Emery: so good that words fail

The definitive SCOUTED50 profile on one of the world's next great midfielders.

SCOUTED50 is our collection of the fifty young talents we believe are best positioned to break into the mainstream during 2023/24. Throughout the season, we’ll be detailing all fifty in definitive profiles.

Read the full list here. Next up is Warren Zaïre-Emery, ranked at #3.

This profile was produced as part of a commercial collaboration with SkillCorner, SCOUTED’s official data partner. SkillCorner’s tracking and performance data is used by more than 150 of the world’s biggest clubs, leagues and confederations. Learn more.

All stats correct as of 23/05/2024 unless otherwise noted.

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Warren Zaïre-Emery has become so good we’ve all stopped noticing.

When I first watched him at 15, 16-years-old in the UEFA Youth League and the Under-17 EUROs, it probably took about 10 minutes to realise he was destined for superstardom.

Now, having just turned 18 in March, he has about 5,000 senior minutes under his belt. Paris Saint-Germain can sign players left, right and centre, but the brilliance and quality of Zaïre-Emery has demanded selection.

It must be emphasised just how many good players come through the PSG academy, but almost all have had to leave to drive their careers forward. Christopher Nkunku, Moussa Diaby, Yacine Adli, Timothy Weah, Mike Maignan and Arnaud Kalimuendo all fell at the hurdle of cracking PSG’s first eleven.

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Then there’s Warren. That list only serves to highlight the quality of the teenage midfielder; his emergence has not been normal.

On the contrary, it’s been deeply special. What he has done at PSG is Lamine Yamal-esque, but minus the highlight reel naturally produced by playing in attack.

Compilation clips or no, Zaïre-Emery’s emergence has been enormously valuable to PSG, whose reputation was threatening to become almost antagonistic to young talents. He has proven to future academy graduates that promotion to the first team is possible — but only if you’re among the most outrageously brilliant prodigies this scout has ever seen.

As you can tell from my language, this profile will be glowing. Since I first watched Zaïre-Emery three years ago, this piece of writing has felt inevitable. But it’s still been beautiful to watch it come together; even the most talented can stumble.

But this won’t be an ‘I told you so’, or a gloat over my brilliant eye for talent. Anyone with functioning eyes could tell Zaïre-Emery was predestined for greatness.

Now, three years on, that greatness has arrived.

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In this profile:

• A ‘zone dominator’ for the modern age

• A monster under pressure

• An off-ball runner to tear teams apart

• The heir to Mbappé’s throne