Underrated gems you should get to know from Ligue 1

Ligue 1 and French football as a whole has long been a great place for the development of young talents, in part due to the physical nature (along with recent coaching improvements). You can find a long list of prospects who initially came through France and became heralded players abroad. The tagline “league of talents” is very appropriate when it comes to Ligue 1.

Currently, there are a bunch of exciting young talents across the league. Malick Fofana is somehow still only 20 years old yet has the smoothness and efficiency of an attacker in their prime. Ayyoub Bouaddi is a teenage sensation on a solid Lille side. Paris Saint-Germain alone have a bunch of high-end prospects who could be written about individually. Yesterday’s newsletter covered the rise of Marseille youngster Robino Vaz. Ligue 1 isn’t struggling in this department by any means.

As such, the purpose of this post is to look at some of the underrated youngsters in the division. That means the guys mentioned above (Fofana, Bouaddi) or others like Lamine Camara won’t be highlighted because they’re already notable targets for big European clubs. It should go without saying that for various reasons, nobody on PSG will be featured. We’ll also be looking at players who are in their age 21 season or younger as designated by FBref, which means some big names will not be featured, including Ligue 1’s current leading scorer Joaquín Panichelli. The ordering of the players is based on their ages, going from youngest to oldest.

Sidiki Cherif (FW, Angers, 18)

I’ve been writing about prospects for some time now, and one of the things I’ve come to believe is teenagers in Ligue 1 who are able to keep their head above water have at least a decent chance of becoming solid or better players once they reach their peak. This is in part due to French football being quite demanding. Some examples of this over the years include Rafael Leão, Hugo Ekitike, and possibly now Eli Junior Kroupi with Bournemouth.

This is the optimistic case for Sidiki Cherif, an 18 year old who’s made some noise recently with three goals in his last four appearances. He’s on an Angers side that has some interesting players despite them once again flirting with relegation, including fellow youngster Prosper Peter. At first glance, the numbers are rather uninspiring but at least a bit of grace should be given since Angers are one of the worst attacking units in France.

For a teenager, Cherif can certainly hold his own in the strength department when receiving floor passes, using the off-arm as leverage. In contrast, he’s rather ground bound on aerial duels. On the ball, he’s had some electrifying plays off the dribble from wide areas where he can look like a very mobile power forward. While he’s not a savant with his movement, he can cover a ton of ground during his first few steps, giving him a wider margin for error than others at his position. He’s even shown to subtly come back from an offside position to catch his opponent off guard, which is something you see from the best forwards.

On the negative side, Cherif certainly has his fair share of moments where you can see him playing like an 18 year old. Part of the reason for his low xG/shot is he’s very willing to take shots from inefficient areas, and in situations where the pass was available because of tunnel vision. When he’s trying to play with his back to goal, his touch can sometimes betray him. While he’ll attempt runs in behind into space, including against high lines, he’s not yet shown the willingness to constantly be on his toes during a sequence of play for double movements or making separate cuts in a quick sequence.

Cherif’s performance versus Marseille was one where you could see the theory of the case with him becoming a quality forward down the line. He was a handful for the Marseille center-backs on that day, using his physicality to be an outlet for teammates to pass to. The goal he scored displayed the strength and coordination to get a shot off in the first place while Nayef Aguerd was harassing him after the initial error.

More than anyone on this list, the context in which Cherif plays in will be important in evaluating his output as the season continues. Short of a massive leap being made, his numbers will probably not jump off the screen compared to others around his age. It’ll be interesting to see how much scouts index on performances like what he showed vs Marseille vs some of the lackluster ones in comparison.

Matias Fernandez-Pardo (W, Lille, 20)

I am admittedly cheating a bit from the spirit of this exercise by including a Lille player, since they’re regularly competing in European football while the other clubs mentioned haven’t accomplished this. In addition, they’re one of the biggest examples in France of a club who is very active with player trading. This could end up being the case with Matias Fernandez-Pardo. After some solid performances in a limited sample last season (only 12 league starts), he’s emerging as arguably Lille’s best player so far in 2025-26.

One of the things you notice with Fernandez-Pardo is he can provide value both on and off the ball. Off the ball, he tries to be active in multiple ways. It can be something simple like filling the channel following a high turnover regain by the team. He’ll regularly look to attempt pass and go’s, or just simply try and maneuver on the blindside of the fullback before sprinting for a long ball. During transitions, he can either try and crash the far post or curl towards the middle for possible cut-backs. This helps explain why he’s been able to generate quality shots for himself.

On the ball, Fernandez-Pardo plays the part of a jitterbug winger. He’s very compact with how he tries to set up his dribble in a 1v1 so there’s minimal wasted motion. At his best, he’ll lull his marker into a false sense of security before a quick change of pace towards the byline. He can get bumped off his spot if the defender is able to keep pace with him. Although not the same athlete as Kylian Mbappé during his early years, his style isn’t too far off in terms of being a handful in open space.

The dribbling and proactive nature to his progressive carrying is complimented by a wide range of passes. When Fernandez-Pardo is able to get to his spot, he’s got too touch on his left footed cut-backs. Less consistent are his crosses into the box. His technique on short range attempts tends to be with minimal backlift, and can end up being cleared by the first line of defense. On the positive, he’s very good at recognizing teammates making underlapping runs towards the box, and playing them in stride. As well, he’ll look to try reverse passes into the box to varying success.

Between Bouaddi and Fernandez-Pardo, Lille have two youngsters who are already good in the present and could get even better quite soon.

Arthur Avom (CM, Lorient, 20)

For a small club in the Northwest of France who haven’t had a ton of domestic success, there have been some notable players to have played for Lorient. Going back to the 2010s, you got Laurent Koscielny, Mario Lemina, and Raphaël Guerreiro. In recent seasons, both Yoanne Wissa and Dango Ouattara have made successful moves to the Premier League. With the way Kroupi has played, he might be the next success

Arthur Avom is certainly not at that level yet, although he’s had a great start to life in Ligue 1. After leading Lorient to promotion last season by winning Ligue 2 as a crucial starter, he’s played at a level that few expected he’d get to this quickly, contributing in a variety of areas.

What jumps out with Avom is how shifty he can be as a dribbler and carrier, especially in the middle third. Not a lot of midfielders his age are as advanced as him when it comes to evading pressure. Like some of the best, he can delay his first touch of the ball to turn from his marker into space. When facing forward, he can utilize feints to get an advantage. There’s less certainty whether he can do this regularly during the first phase of buildup, due to playing on a team that doesn’t dominate the ball.

Avom combines his solo progression with good, but maybe not necessarily great passing. He’s quite willing to look for home run passes, and can hit them with decent efficiency, albeit the touch on his medium to long length lob passes over the top of defensive lines isn’t always there. That said, he can pop up in pockets of space in the final third and play runners through without them having to break stride. This kind of play style was on display last season in Ligue 2, and so far has translated in Ligue 1.

Defensively, Avom utilizes his quickness to hurry opponents within Lorient’s medium or low blocks so it bends but doesn’t break constantly. He’s doing this while having to defend in a zonal role as part of the midfield two. Those gambles he takes help in generating interceptions and blocked passes. However, this eagerness can be used against him by being dragged out of position, leading to open space being crafted near Lorient’s box. That said, it’s not been often so far this season.

We won’t know how resilient Avom’s skillset will be for some time since this is his first taste of top flight football. It’s possible what he’s shown this season is his true talent level, which would make him one of the better midfielders out there. A couple points of clarity going forward will be knowing more about his capacity for handling first phase buildup responsibilities, and just how destructive he can be when defending in pressing situations. All of that said, it’s hard to deny that Lorient have themselves a potential gem on their hands.

Samson Baidoo (CB, Lens, 21)

True hipsters would have already heard the name Samson Baidoo, especially those with knowledge of Austrian football. 2023-24 and 2024-25 saw him become a mainstay in Red Bull Salzburg’s starting lineup, and even make his debut with the Austrian national team. A few months following the departure of Kevin Danso to the Premier League, Lens seemingly earmarked Baidoo as the successor and it’s so far worked out.

What stood out with Baidoo so far in French football is he’s able to combine high-level athleticism and awareness to put out a lot of fires within the middle of Lens’ back three. It can’t be understated how quick he can get off his mark when needed. You’ll see him following his opponent even into their half to pressure them. When defending in his own third, he’s proficient at knowing when to switch responsibilities with teammates. As well, his scanning is generally very good so he’s less likely to be lost while tracking forward runs into the box. This can help in deterring movements from even happening. He’s also had some crucial shot blocks to his name.

In possession is where there might be more questions to his game. The positive is he can evade incoming pressure in dynamic situations where he gobbles the loose ball and immediately has to bypass incoming opponents. He’s also aggressive at carrying into space. However, he’s largely been circulating possession along the backline and being less of a threat to make passes between the lines. He can produce some penetrative passes, but that responsibility is largely handled by others on the squad, including Malang Sarr. If this continues, it makes for an interesting profile; a center-back who can evade pressure but isn’t necessarily playing through the opposition block with regularity.

For now though, Baidoo’s defensive playmaking has kept Lens’ out of possession structure from leaking an uncontrollable amount of chances, and helped fuel their strong start to the season. They’re tied for 2nd with Marseille through 11 matches, only 2 points behind PSG. How much can he help keep their afloat will play a big part in whether they can once again qualify for Europe, and the swing skill will be whether he becomes more daring with his pass selection.

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