One To Watch: FC Nantes' Tylel Tati
In our latest One To Watch, we take a look at young FC Nantes defender Tylel Tati. Still just 17, his strong play this season has been key to helping Les Canaris fight the drop
Part of the Nantes tradition
Of late, FC Nantes have been something of a yo-yo club, regularly bouncing between Ligue 1 McDonald's and Ligue 2 BKT. Despite having won the Coupe de France in 2022, they have had to work hard to keep their place in the top flight. However, it wasn't so long ago that the club occupied a much higher position, winning the Coupe France twice and the league twice in the span of eight years between 1995 and 2002. Much of that success was down to the club's strong ability to develop young players.
Claude Makelélé, Marcel Desailly, and Didier Deschamps are just some of the players who have come through the academy at La Beaujoire, and while recent years have been more barren save perhaps Randal Kolo Muani, there's currently an impressive renaissance happening on the banks of the Loire. Midfielder Louis Leroux has impressed for club and country with France's U-21s, while winger Herba Guirassy has already notched four goals at the age of 19, but the most impressive player to date just might be Tylel Tati.
Born in the Marne region just east of Paris, to parents of Congolese and Senegalese origin, Tati came through with amateur side US Roissy-en-Brie, a club where his father is president, and where a young Paul Pogba spent time. Following a spell at Clairefontaine, he was signed by Nantes in the summer of 2023, and impressed for the reserves, despite his age, even winning a pair of France youth caps at U-16 and U-17 level.
The next classy defender emerging in Ligue 1!
8 clearances
3/3 ground duels
3/3 aerial duels
17 YO TYLEL TATI 🇫🇷 pic.twitter.com/yKfu3a256B— Ligue 1 English (@Ligue1_ENG) January 4, 2026
In at the deep end
A new manager always means new opportunities, and that's just what happened for Tati. With Luis Castro arriving this summer (and the departures of the veteran trio of Nicolas Pallois, Jean-Charles Castelletto and Nathan Zézé), Tati's precocious talent was recognized by his new manager, and he was in the eleven for Nantes' first Ligue 1 McDonald's match of the season -- against Paris Saint-Germain, before he'd even signed his first professional contract. Despite having a very tough task against the European champions, Tati performed admirably in a 1-0 loss, with Castro saying afterwards, "He played a very good match, he's calm, focused, and at 17 years old, that's not bad."
In the months since, Tati has started all but one of Nantes' 17 Ligue 1 matches, missing only one through injury. While the team have struggled at times owing to their youth and injuries, Tati has been a bright spot, even if there have been some growing pains. Too, if his play on Sunday against Marseille (in a 2-0 win) is anything by which to go, the best may be yet to come.
Playing in a back three alongside Kelvin Amian and Nicolas Cozza, he regularly stepped forward out of defense to help build play with his passing while also affecting the match defensively, including making a goal-saving clearance. Originally trained as a midfielder, Tati's ability on the ball is one of his key assets, and that preternatural calm is a big part of why he's so highly regarded. While a move away this winter has been categorically ruled out, Tati's talent is manifest and the thinking is he could fetch even more than the club-record €20M that was received for Zézé last summer.
