Imran Louza at Nantes 2020/21

France has produced some incredible talents over the years, and recently there seems to be a mass influx of talent coming through the ranks at top academies all over the country. Some of these names include Eduardo Camavinga, who has recently been touted for a move to Manchester United and Real Madrid, Rayan Ait Nouri, currently on loan at Wolves, Arsenal’s William Saliba, etc.

Among these names of top youth players coming through the ranks of the finest French footballing academies is 21-year-old Imran Louza who plays for Christian Gourcuff’s Nantes. He joined Nantes’ academy in 2006, as a mere 7-year-old and learned his craft for almost 13 more years before making his debut in a 4-1 victory in the Coupe de France back in January 2019.

Since the beginning of the 2019/20 season, Louza has been quite a prominent member of the Nantes team since the arrival of Gourcuff, who instilled an incredible belief in the youngster, particularly this season where Louza has started in almost every game for the French club, even scoring twice.

This scout report will be a tactical analysis of how Imran Louza has been utilised so far this season. It will be an analysis of how the youngster has been so crucial for Nantes’ tactics under Gourcuff so far in Ligue 1 in the 2020/21 campaign.

Style of play and best positioning:

Imran Louza is a 5’10” central midfielder. He is predominantly left-footed, however, he is adept at playing with his right foot too. As stated before, the Frenchman has played 7 games so far this season for Nantes, averaging 86.1 minutes per 90, meaning that he is rarely taken off in games.

Particularly in the previous few games, Gourcuff has put his full trust into the youngster. Usually, when players come from an academy and make their debut with the first team, they are rarely thrust into central roles on the pitch, especially at centre-back or in central midfield. However, Louza has been trusted by his manager to occupy one of the most important roles on the pitch as a central midfielder in a double pivot in a 4-4-2.

Central midfield is not the only position Louza is capable of playing in, however. He has also been utilised as an attacking midfielder in a 4-2-3-1 as well as a winger cutting inside from the right onto his left foot.

His role is very free. Regardless of the position he plays in a match, his manager gives him a license to drift from side to side and even out into the half-spaces or the flanks depending on the situation. This free role always allows Nantes to have a free man whilst they are in possession, and this free movement can be seen in his heat map.