Ismael Bennacer

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-3116152/Manchester-City-closing-signing-France-18-attacker-Ismael-Benacer.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490

Saw this yesterday but can't find much decent info on the kid.

I think his signing on fee was £200K. Not bad for a 17yo.

His team have been relegated to the 3rd tier of French football.......seriously, is this where we're looking to get our players..the French 2nd tier ?

Surely if he was any good, he'd be playing for a better team in France at the very least.

He's 17yo. He played 5 league games with about 4 hours playing time. He played one French Cup game scoring 1 goal. I don't know of all his league appearances were at the end of the season when they were going down or not.

Normally, you will find some video footage of a promising kid. Unless we are unearthing a raw diamond, we could just be throwing our money away.

We got little Joe from Shrewsbury... Maybe this kid could turn out to be as good?

leopold wrote:We got little Joe from Shrewsbury... Maybe this kid could turn out to be as good?

Fair point.

But at least we could see some footage to see if the lad was any good. I'll still have a look for any ligue2 highlights with this kid.

Here's an interview from his current club's website...

Depuis la professionnalisation du club en 2009, Ismaël Bennacer est le plus jeune joueur à avoir porté le maillot de l’équipe fanion de l’AC Arles-Avignon, et marqué un but avec les professionnels.
 1/ Bonjour Ismaël. Pour commencer, peux-tu te présenter à nos supporters ? 
Bonjour. Je m’appelle Ismaël Bennacer, j’ai 17 ans et je suis Français d’origine Marocaine et Algérienne. Je suis né à Arles, et j’ai toujours joué dans ce club, qui me tient vraiment à cœur car c’est lui qui m’a aidé à en arriver là, et qui je pense m’aidera encore beaucoup. J’ai toujours été un bon élève au collège et au lycée, même s’il y a eu des moments où mon comportement n’était pas trop bien. Je suis actuellement en 1ère STI après une réorientation l’année dernière, même si je pouvais passer en terminale et savais que j’allais être dans le groupe de la CFA2. J’étais en 1ère S, cela ne me plaisait pas vraiment et ne correspondait pas avec ce que je veux faire après le bac, des études dans le sport.
 2/ Comment es-tu arrivé jusqu’ici ? 
J’ai toujours pris à cœur tous les conseils qu’on me donnait car je savais que c’était bien pour moi. Depuis tout petit je travaille, je suis vraiment un bosseur, c’est surtout grâce à ça. Avec chaque entraineur, j’ai une marge de progression de plus en plus importante, plus j’avance, plus c’est dur. Mais au final je suis bien récompensé de mes efforts.
 3/ Tu es rentré aujourd’hui dans l’histoire du club, quel est ton ressenti ?  
Je n’ai pas de mot pour décrire ce qu’il m’arrive. Ce n’est que du bonheur. Je joue dans ce club depuis mon plus jeune âge, j’aurais au moins laissé une trace. Ce n’est que du travail, je fais exactement ce que me disent de faire les coaches. A chaque entrainement, un nouveau combat se met en place, avant l’entrainement je fais un peu de renforcement, et après je reste pour bien m’étirer. Sinon à part le travail, la concentration est primordiale pour y arriver. Ce que j’aime dans ce sport, c’est que je sais que ce n’est que le début, j’ai encore une énorme marge de progression qui m’attend. C’est ce qui me fait aimer ce sport plus que tous les autres, car Dieu seul sait jusqu’où je pourrai aller.
 4/ Quel est ton sentiment sur le groupe ?  
C’est dommage, car le classement ne reflète pas du tout les valeurs de l’équipe. C’est vraiment un très bon groupe, qui m’a bien accueilli mais c’est le football, malheureusement c’est comme ça. C’est une première partie de saison assez difficile, en espérant que l’année 2015 change beaucoup de choses.

 5/ Comment vois-tu ton avenir ?  
Mon avenir ? Je ne sais pas vraiment ce que me réserve l’avenir. Je sais juste une chose, soit je resterai soit je partirai, mais ce sera pour moi-même, car je souhaite être dans un club pour progresser au maximum, avec beaucoup de travail en perspective.

You taking the piss?

Since the professionalization of the club in 2009, Ishmael Bennacer is the youngest player to have worn the jersey of the flag team AC Arles-Avignon, and scored a goal with professionals.
 1 / Hello Ishmael. To start, could you introduce yourself to our supporters?
Hello. My name is Ishmael Bennacer, I'm 17 and I'm original French Algerian and Moroccan. I was born in Arles, and I always played in this club, that really is close to my heart because it was he who helped me get there, and yet I think will help me a lot. I've always been a good student in college and high school, even if there were times when my behavior was not too good. I am currently in the first STI after a shift last year, even if I could go terminally and knew I would be in the group of CFA2. I was the first S, it does not really liked and did not correspond with what I want to do after high school, studies in sport.
 2 / How did you get here?
I have always taken to heart all the advice I was given because I knew it was good for me. Since childhood I work, I really am a hardworking, it is mainly through this. With every coach, I have room for improvement more and more, the more I advance, the harder it is. But in the end I am well rewarded for my efforts.
 3 / You're home now in the club's history, what is your feeling?
I have no words to describe what happens to me. It is happiness. I play at this club since I was young, I would have at least left a trace. Only work, I do exactly what I say to the coaches. At each training, a new battle is taking place, before training I do a little reinforcement, and then I left for good stretch me. Otherwise separate work, the concentration is paramount to get there. What I like about this sport is that I know this is only the beginning, I still have a huge room for improvement to expect. This is what makes me love this sport more than any other, for God alone knows how far I can go.
 4 / What is your feeling about the group?
This is unfortunate because the ranking does not reflect at all the values ​​of the team. It really is a very good group, which welcomed me but it's football, unfortunately it is like that. It is a rather difficult first part of the season, hoping that 2015 changes a lot.

 5 / How do you see your future?
My future? I do not really know what my future. I just know one thing, or I stay or I go, but that's for myself, because I want to be a club for maximum progress, with plenty of work ahead.

Topdawg wrote:But at least we could see some footage to see if the lad was any good. I'll still have a look for any ligue2 highlights with this kid.

There was some great footage from this Brazilian striker a few years ago, we should have a look at him.  His name is Jo.  Worth a punt? 

Anyone can nail together a showreel of their prowess.  Look at Dzeko's from when he was at Wolfsburg.  Means nowt.  Someone's scouted him and thinks he's good enough, so should we not just take it as read they know what they're doing?

On second thoughts, we did buy Garcia, Maicon, Fernando, Jovetic, Sinclair...  Actually, I'm going to cut this list short as it's too depressing thinking of the crap we've bought.  But yeah, I don't think we can assume the guys upstairs have a scooby.

Crossed fingers?  Sounds like our best shot... 

I think all clubs buy players that don't work out.

We get berated for last seasons purchases....but hear nothing about Chelsea's £27.9m signing of Cuadrado - who looks like he'll be sold or:

United's massive wages for Falcao. Di Maria, Bebe? Nani? Anderson? Shaw?

Liverpool - Balotelli, Can, Markovitz, Fonte?

Arsenal - Ozil?

True.

If we'd bought Di Maria, he'd have been branded a flop, without question.  Yes, granted, he's got some skill, but he so rarely brings it to the table.  I never understood why everyone was blowing smoke up his arse at the WC last year either, I thought he was distinctly average and, in the final, he seemed to disappear completely.

Ozil is the same, you just lose him in big games.

I'd also put Diego Costa in the box.  He's been lucky in front of goal.