On the last day of the summer market window, when everyone was expecting Barcelona to sign someone to replace Messi (or at least Atletico Madrid-bound Antoine Griezmann), the club announced the signing of a 19-year-old winger from Hércules, who had played just under 1,000 minutes in Segunda B: Abdessamad Ezzalzouli “Abde”.
Born in Morocco, Abde came through the academy at Hércules.
He made his debut for Hércules B aged 16 and that season they achieved promotion to Tercera, the Spanish fourth tier.
In total, he played 48 games for Hércules B over three seasons.
Last season, he was promoted to their first team, playing almost a thousand minutes across 17 games.
His performances at the end of the season were enough to catch the attention of Barça.
At the international level, Abde has represented Morocco U20 and U23 but is still to decide his senior national team as he can also represent Spain.
Morocco is likely to call him to the upcoming African Cup of Nations, so he’ll have to make a decision soon.
In this Abde Ezzalzouli Scout player analysis, we’ll examine how the 19-year-old Moroccan fits into Xavi’s tactics, as well as his strengths and weaknesses.
Abde Ezzalzouli Data Profile
Abde is just starting his career at Barcelona, and despite showing nice details, he’s still getting into the team and proving his worth.
In this section of the tactical analysis, we’ll have a look at his data last season with Hércules in Segunda B (third tier) to understand why Barcelona signed him and what he can potentially bring to the club.
Looking at his data profile above, it’s clear that Ezzalzouli was an outstanding attacking player last season.
A relentless dribbler, he ranked in the top 3% among wingers in his league in attempted dribbles (10.74 per 90) and completed a high percentage of them (57.14%).
Skilled in tight spaces but also fast, he was in the top 2% for progressive runs with 5.59 per 90.
