Best of 2025-26: Best Young Player
With the curtain having come down on the 2025/26 Ligue 1 McDonald's season, in a new series, the editorial staff picks their favorite moments of what was a thrilling season, continuing with the Best Young Player. Join George Boxall, Eric Devin and Luke Entwistle for a bumper review.
Ayyoub Bouaddi, LOSC
At the age of 18, Ayoub Bouaddi is no longer just another academy product that Lille have blooded this season. During his second campaign with Les Dogues, he has become one of the most important players in Lille’s midfield. With 30 matches under his belt this season, Bouaddi has shown a maturity and a level of composure which has been beyond his years. Whilst this was evident last season during his performances in the Champions League for Bruno Génésio’s side, this season has seen an added level of consistency. Standing at 1.85 metres tall, he has a physical presence but is also technically competent on the ball. He can shield possession, break lines, and carry the ball all whilst being able to compete defensively against far more experienced midfield opponents. EMBED:
Lille's gem Ayyoub Bouaddi 💎✨ pic.twitter.com/mUtM4SOVLa
— Ligue 1 English (@Ligue1_ENG) March 27, 2025
All that has seen the midfielder officially join the Morocco international setup with a view to the World Cup. He has been pre-selected for the Atlas Lions before they head to the USA this summer. In a Lille side which is packed with emerging talent, no youngster has looked more ready for the highest level than Bouaddi. -GB
Ismaëlo Ganiou, RC Lens
While not as young as either of my fellow writers' picks, Ganiou gets the nod from me for his having come seemingly out of nowhere, becoming an ever-present for a Sang et Or side who spent much of the season without key centre backs Jonathan Gradit and Samson Baidoo. Born in Lille to parents from Burkina Faso, the 21-year-old central defender joined Lens' academy at age ten and left a year ago to sign with Italian side Padova. After immediately being loaned back to France, where he impressed with Annency in Ligue 2, he returned to Le Sang et Or this summer on a two-year deal, having already earned his first international cap in a June friendly for Burkina Faso against Zimbabwe.
20 years old. 💎
Remember the name. ✨
Ismaëlo Ganiou. 🇧🇫 pic.twitter.com/XGcRKsXcrv— Ligue 1 English (@Ligue1_ENG) January 2, 2026
Despite being sent off in his first start, against Auxerre, he rebounded to the point that he was vying with Malang Sarr to be the team's best defender, no small matter ahead of a young and inexperienced goalkeeper in Robin Risser. Off the back of Friday's Coupe de France win, he's also celebrated his first season with a title, and looks set for plenty more to come as Lens play in the Champions League next season -- ED.
Warren Zaïre-Emery, Paris Saint-Germain:
It is easy to forget that Warren Zaire-Emery is still a young player. His breakthrough came during Christophe Galtier’s final season in charge of PSG. He has since gone on to become a key player for PSG, the most used player for the club in Ligue 1 McDonald’s this season, as he won his fourth successive league title since making his professional breakthrough. But his progress has not been linear, not at all. He seemingly had the world on his feet during Luis Enrique’s first season in charge, but during the second half of that campaign, he began to tail off, and by the end of last season, he was firmly a second-string option.
He had fallen out of favour and out of the France national team. This season has been his own redemption arc. He has asserted himself as arguably PSG’s most important player in Ligue 1 McDonald’s games, at least. He has worn the captain’s armband on several occasions (not bad for a 20-year-old), and despite his “inexperience” he is now trusted to fill in for the best right-back in the world, Achraf Hakimi. There are even calls for him to start in that position for France at the World Cup. Quite the comeback for a player still so young, but who has shown such mental fortitude. -LE
