Warren Zaïre-Emery

Warren Zaïre-Emery (born 8 March 2006) is a French professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain.[1]

Warren Zaïre-Emery
Personal information
Full name Warren Zaïre-Emery
Date of birth (2006-03-08) 8 March 2006
Place of birth Montreuil, France
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Paris Saint-Germain
Number 33
Youth career
2011–2014 Aubervilliers
2014–2022 Paris Saint-Germain
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2022– Paris Saint-Germain 34 (2)
International career‡
2021 France U16 2 (0)
2022 France U17 9 (2)
2022– France U18 6 (0)
2022– France U19 6 (0)
2023– France U21 4 (0)
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  France
UEFA European Under-17 Championship
Winner2022 Israel
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 15:41, 9 October 2023 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 17 October 2023

Early life

Warren Zaïre-Emery was born in Montreuil, growing up in Île-de-France. His father was also a footballer, having played with the Red Star in Seine-Saint-Denis.[2][3]

Zaïre-Emery started playing at Aubervilliers at the age of four, having to wait a year just to be old enough to take his first license there.[2][3]

Club career

Already a standout player in Aubervilliers, Zaïre-Emery was quickly scouted by Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), signing with the club from the capital in 2014.[3] In their youth system, Zaïre-Emery always played in categories above his age, impressing his coaches at all levels. During the 2021–22 season, as he had only turned 15, he was the youngest player of the under-19 squad.[3][4][5][6] Despite his young age, Zaïre-Emery became a key player of the U19s, most notably in December 2021, when he was the standout performer of PSG in the UEFA Youth League: during the last group stage game, helping his team to a 3–2 home win against Club Brugge with a goal and an assist, narrowly qualifying PSG directly to the round of 16.[3][7]

At the age of 15, Zaïre-Emery was called by Mauricio Pochettino to the first team that season.[2][3] Attracting the attention of several other big European clubs while still yet to sign his first professional contract,[7][8] he joined Jorge Mendes's agency in March 2022.[9][10]

In July 2022, Zaïre-Emery signed his first professional contract with PSG, a three-year deal until 30 June 2025.[11] Under new coach Christophe Galtier, he made his senior debut in a 2–0 friendly win over Quevilly-Rouen,[12] and was included in PSG's preseason tour in Japan, where he was in the starting lineup for a 3–0 win over Urawa Red Diamonds.[13] On 6 August 2022, Zaïre-Emery made his official debut for PSG as a substitute in a 5–0 league win away to Clermont.[14] His debut at the age of 16 years and 151 days made him the youngest player to appear in an official match for the club, a record which was previously held by El Chadaille Bitshiabu.[15] On 25 October, Zaïre-Emery made his UEFA Champions League debut as a substitute in a 7–2 home victory over Maccabi Haifa. This made him the youngest player to appear in the Champions League for PSG.[16] On 7 January 2023, he made his first start in a 3–1 Coupe de France victory away to Châteauroux, becoming the youngest starter in the club's history.[17] He became the club's youngest starter in Ligue 1 in a 1–0 defeat away to Rennes eight days later.[18] On 1 February, Zaïre-Emery scored his first senior goal, coming off the bench to cap off a 3–1 victory against Montpellier; in doing so he became PSG's youngest ever goalscorer, aged 16 years and 330 days.[19] On 14 February, he became the youngest player to start a Champions League knockout game at the age of 16 years and 343 days in a 1–0 loss to Bayern Munich.[20] At the end of the 2022–23 season, Zaïre-Emery won his first Ligue 1 title.[21]

On 26 August 2023, Zaïre-Emery recorded his first assist for PSG, a pass for Marco Asensio in a 3–1 win over Lens. It made him the youngest PSG player to record a Ligue 1 assist since Opta began analysing this data in 2006.[22] On 4 October 2023, Zaïre-Emery assisted Lucas Hernandez's header in a 4–1 Champions League defeat away to Newcastle United, making him the youngest French and PSG player to record an assist in the competition.[23] On 11 October 2023, he was named by English newspaper The Guardian as one of the best players born in 2006 worldwide.[24]

International career

Of Martiniquais descent, Zaïre-Emery is a French youth international. In April 2022, he was selected with the France under-17 national team for the UEFA Under-17 Euro.[7] With this 2005 generation, he was the only 2006-born player of the squad.[25] France went on to win the tournament, with Zaïre-Emery scoring two goals.[26]

In September 2023, Zaïre-Emery received his first call-up to the France under-21s by newly-appointed coach Thierry Henry. Henry chose to designated Zaïre-Emery as team captain for the matches against Denmark and Slovenia, making him the youngest captain of Les Espoirs in thirty years.[27][28]

Style of play

A defensive midfielder with a decent physique and remarkable technical abilities, Zaïre-Emery is both good at winning the ball and launching the plays, providing structure to its team plays, giving balance to the midfield.[4][3][5][7]

Good at reading the game, he is described as a player with a very mature personality on the pitch while still in his teenage years, able to often take his responsibilities but still maintaining a calm and disciplined attitude.[3][4][2][5]

Career statistics
As of match played 8 October 2023[1]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Paris Saint-Germain 2022–23 Ligue 1 262203[lower-alpha 1]000312
2023–24 Ligue 1 80002[lower-alpha 2]000100
Career total 342205000412
  1. Appearances in UEFA Champions League
  2. Appearances in UEFA Champions League

Honours

Paris Saint-Germain

France U17

Individual

References
  1. Warren Zaïre-Emery at Soccerway
  2. Bouville, Hugo (14 April 2022). "PSG: qui est Warren Zaïre-Emery, le phénomène parisien de 16 ans promis à un brillant avenir". RMC Sport (in French). Retrieved 28 May 2022.
  3. Delaporte, Augustin; Guégan, Hervé (16 December 2021). "Warren Zaire-Emery, le surdoué du PSG". actufoot. Retrieved 28 May 2022.
  4. Quarez, Benjamin (15 March 2022). "Warren Zaïre-Emery, 16 ans, le nouveau phénomène du PSG : «C'est sûrement ce que j'ai vu de mieux»". Le Parisien (in French). Retrieved 28 May 2022.
  5. Delom, Hugo (3 January 2022). "Lavallée, El Hannach, Bodiang, Kari, Zaire-Emery... Qui sont les « titis » de demain du PSG ?". L'Équipe (in French). Retrieved 28 May 2022.
  6. Jaquin, Alexandre; Tanzi, Loïc (1 March 2022). "PSG-Séville: qui sont les nouveaux talents du PSG en Youth League?". RMC Ssport (in French). Retrieved 28 May 2022.
  7. Aouna, Santi; Denis, Sebastien (6 May 2022). "PSG : ça brûle pour Warren Zaïre-Emery". Foot Mercato (in French). Retrieved 28 May 2022.
  8. Chirat, Antoine (21 February 2022). "PSG : un titi devrait passer pro malgré les convoitises allemandes". Onze Mondial (in French). Retrieved 28 May 2022.
  9. Déchelotte, Arnaud (17 March 2022). "PSG : une pépite du club choisit Jorge Mendes comme agent !". Onze Mondial (in French). Retrieved 28 May 2022.
  10. Toison, Nicolas (18 March 2022). "Warren Zaire-Emery rejoint l'agent de Cristiano Ronaldo". Sportune (in French). Retrieved 28 May 2022.
  11. "Warren Zaire-Emery signs his first professional contract". Paris Saint-Germain F.C. 15 July 2022. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  12. "Paris Saint-Germain V Quevilly Rouen" (in French). Paris Saint-Germain F.C. 15 July 2022. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
  13. "Urawa Red Diamonds V Paris Saint-Germain" (in French). Paris Saint-Germain F.C. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
  14. "Clermont vs. PSG - 6 August 2022". Retrieved 6 August 2022.
  15. "Zaïre-Emery devient le plus jeune joueur de l'histoire du PSG" (in French). L'Équipe. 6 August 2022. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
  16. "Zaïre-Emery the club's youngest player in the Champions League!". Paris Saint-Germain F.C. 25 October 2022. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
  17. "Warren Zaïre-Emery becomes the youngest starter in the club's history". Paris Saint-Germain F.C. 6 January 2023. Retrieved 9 January 2023.
  18. "Another record for Warren Zaire-Emery!". Paris Saint-Germain F.C. 15 January 2023. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  19. @OptaJean (1 February 2023). "16&330 - A 16 ans et 330 jours, Warren Zaïre-Emery est devenu le plus jeune buteur de l'histoire de Paris en Ligue 1" (Tweet) (in French) – via Twitter.
  20. Hindle, Thomas (14 February 2023). "Who is Warren Zaire-Emery? PSG's 16-year-old wonderkid set to start vs Bayern Munich in Champions League last-16 tie". Goal.com.
  21. "PSG wins record 11th French title". Le Monde.fr. 28 May 2023. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
  22. "Stats & facts: A look back at the win over Lens". Paris Saint-Germain. 27 August 2023. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
  23. "PSG midfielder Warren Zaïre-Emery becomes youngest ever Frenchman to provide an assist in the Champions League - Get French Football News". 4 October 2023. Retrieved 4 October 2023.
  24. Christenson, Marcus; Bloor, Steven; Blight, Garry (11 October 2023). "Next Generation 2023: 60 of the best young talents in world football". theguardian.com. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  25. Tanzi, Loïc (12 May 2022). "Euro U17: Tel, Zaire-Emery, Bitshiabu... les talents Scouting RMC à suivre". RMC Sport (in French). Retrieved 28 May 2022.
  26. "Final: France 2–1 Netherlands: Line-ups". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 1 June 2022. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
  27. "Equipe de France : Zaïre-Emery capitaine des Espoirs, Henry s'explique". OneFootball. 26 September 2023. Retrieved 27 September 2023.
  28. "« Je voulais voir ce qu'il avait dans le ventre » : Henry adoube Zaïre-Emery comme capitaine des Espoirs". leparisien.fr (in French). 7 September 2023. Retrieved 27 September 2023.
  29. Scott, Andy (27 May 2023). "PSG win record 11th French title". Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  30. "Warren Zaïre-Emery et Océane Toussaint sacrés Titi d'Or 2022" (in French). 27 January 2023. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
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