Zachary Athekame Scout Report At AC Milan 2025/2026: Can The Young Boys Right-Back Shine At San Siro? – Player Analysis

Zachary Athekame is a 20-year-old right-back who is very much on the radar of Serie A’s AC Milan, as the I Rossoneri need a promising right-back to reinforce their squad.

Massimiliano Allegri has been using the 3-5-2 formation during the friendly games he played so far in the pre-season camp and was relying mainly on Alexis Saelemaekers, Álex Jiménez, and Yunus Musah for the wing-back role.

As Musah is mainly a midfielder, Allegri tactics are more likely to use Musah there if the Athekame deal goes through.

He would logically use Jiménez more as an alternative to Pervis Estupiñán on the left flank, rather than having three players competing for the same right flank role.

If Zachary Athekames transfer deal is not completed, however, Jiménez will remain Saelemaekers backup on the right.

Jiménez would be the best possible option as an alternative to Estupiñán following the departure of Theo Hernández, with Davide Bartesaghi becoming the plan C option for that role.

Getting a natural right-back who can rival Saelemaekers will benefit Allegri and the team, which should create a healthy rivalry that will push both players to perform better.

Zachary Athekames market value is only €5m; therefore, it will be less complicated to opt for him rather than for a more established player with a higher market value.

At the same time, Athekame’s potential and abilities are excellent for Milan’s standards.

He has what is needed to further develop at Milan and battle for a starting spot without much pressure.

AC Milan are pushing to get the services of a promising talent who can become a much more useful right-back in the coming seasons and who can already add squad depth and quality on the right flank this season.

This player analysis and scout report aims to further explore Zachary Athekames playmaking and defensive traits, identifying his strengths and shedding some light on his weaknesses and margin of progress.

The analysis will also compare Zachary Athekame and Alexis Saelemaekers using data analysis and statistics, since the latter has been Allegris first choice on the right flank until now.

Zachary Athekame Player Profile & Role At AC Milan

Zachary Athekame is a natural right-back who has been used mostly in defensive lines with four defenders, especially with his current club, Young Boys.

Nevertheless, he has experience playing as a right midfielder and a wing-back, meaning that he is capable of interpreting these roles without problems.

This tactical fluidity and adaptability will be much needed if he moves to Milan, as playing in Serie A requires many more role changes, in-game tactical changes, and formation changes that will also impact the players roles and movements.

That said, Zachary Athekame gives the impression of being a very intelligent player who is quick with the ball, has some explosive accelerations and can easily turn the turbo mode on to get past opponents.

He is also a good dribbler, and that helps him a lot near the touchline.

He relies on his high dribbling success rates to advance and contribute in the playmaking phase.

Zachary Athekame proved at Young Boys that he can also be very dangerous thanks to his crosses and key passes, even though he still has a considerable margin for progress if he keeps working hard on making his passing more dangerous.

Zachary Athekame Pizza Chart

The following pizza chart further confirms Athekames traits.

It shows that he is very powerful in terms of passing and positioning, and also wins defensive duels relatively frequently compared with other right-backs from the Swiss Super League and other divisions at a similar level, according to our tier system.

Zachary Athekame is a very good defensive right-back who guarantees solid defending on that side.

He has proven on numerous occasions that he is tough to beat in duels, which makes him attractive to AC Milan, who need a defensively solid right-back to guarantee more compactness at the back and concede fewer unnecessary goals than last season.

However, it is important to note that Zachary Athekame still has room for improvement.

Better performance in aerial duels will be necessary for him to be more complete defensively.

Focusing on improving his shooting abilities will also require him to be more involved in attacks and rely not only on passing but also on shooting when possible.

The lack of shooting, especially accurate/dangerous shooting, is not Athekame’s only attacking weakness, as key passing and assist-making cannot be considered his strengths.

Athekame’s overall goal contribution remains poor.

He was only capable of providing three assists and scoring one goal in 43 games, while he scored two goals and provided one assist the season before in 37 matches.

Zachary Athekame is not a very powerful right-back attacking-wise, but he is athletic and defensively solid.

His main strengths are defending, tackling, and progression with the ball.

Zachary Athekame Vs Alexis Saelemaekers

To assess Zachary Athekame’s potential playing time at AC Milan, it is essential to compare him to his rival for the same position, Alexis Saelemaekers.

To do so, I have tried to look at both players’ attacking input from a data analytics perspective to evaluate both players’ playmaking potential and help determine who can be more beneficial to the team.

The first graphic studies both players