Celtic transfer scouting: The raw Riyad Mahrez clone hiding out in Ligue 2

The “food chain” starts from the National League up to the top flight, Ligue 1. However, Ligue 2 has also served as a recruitment ground for smarter clubs in and around Europe.

The likes of Amine Adli, Janis Antiste and others have moved to clubs in elite European leagues straight from Ligue 2.

Celtic would make no mistake tapping into that market and finding suitable players for their long-term squad building.

Here, we will examine three players who could be attractive options for Ange Postecoglou...

Bilal Boutobba (Niort)

Nationality: French; Age: 23; Position: Right winger; Preferred foot: Left

Boutobba was on the end of a lot of attention a few years back, having been labelled one of the best young players in the world. However, his career hasn’t gone as smoothly as expected, with a failed move to Spain and an underwhelming period at Montpellier. He has picked himself back since moving to Niort in 2020, and it is expected that this could be his big breakthrough season.

Boutobba scored seven and assisted seven times in Ligue 2 last season at a rate of 0.41 non-penalty goal contributions per 90 minutes. His returns are impressive for a winger, and apart from his output, he is a real threat when he has the ball.

The Frenchman is extremely good at taking on players, possessing immense footwork and a low centre of gravity that helps him turn quickly and effectively, escaping traffic and leaving players on the floor.

The above images show how good he is at taking on defenders, especially in a one-v-situation. The Valenciennes players give him space that allows him to use his pace and footwork to turn away from the markers and deliver an assist. While he is predominantly left-footed, Boutobba has the ability to shift onto his right and deliver good crosses on the ground.

Here is another example of his brilliant ability to move inside from the flanks and create opportunities. The 23-year-old takes a clever first touch to control the high ball and sets it perfectly to carry on with his momentum before cutting in and taking a shot. The attempt, however, turns into an assist for his teammate, who taps the ball into the net.

Boutobba’s individual game has improved over the last year, with him enhancing his decision-making on the ball and making good use of his strength to move away from challenges when he is in promising areas. On the first guess, one would expect him to be a pushover physically, but he makes good use of his upper body strength when he is moving with speed and is clever at winning fouls in dangerous areas.

Finally, his shooting is impressive and he can find the target from a distance. He often looks to cut inside from the right and curl one in with his left foot. Although the comparisons are far-off, Boutobba could be likened to a raw Riyad Mahrez in certain aspects of their style. The Frenchman mainly likes to occupy the right flank and does not offer a lot of off-the-ball movement. This isn’t a criticism, as he more often likes to get involved and make things happen.

The weaknesses in his game is a lack of consistency at times. At 23, he has matured into a smart footballer, learning from his early struggles and failures. This season could possibly prove to be a breakthrough one for him, that could attract interest from top clubs. Celtic could definitely keep an eye on him as he's certainly got levels of skill that Postecoglou would admire.

Check-Oumar Diakité (Paris FC)

Nationality: French; Age: 19; Position: Attacking midfielder; Preferred foot: Right

Diakité is only 19 and is a very interesting profile. He is ideally an attacking midfielder by trade but loves working in wide areas, especially the right halfspaces.

As you can observe from the heatmap above, he is involved with the ball mainly on the right-hand side of the pitch for Paris FC. Whether it was a back three or a back four, Diakité played across the midfield as a right-sided centre midfielder and also in a central midfield role. He has proved to be versatile in that aspect, adjusting to different roles.

In 1,043 minutes of Ligue 2 action, Diakité managed a goal and two assists which is a fairly decent return for someone playing in central midfield. He missed a good portion of the second half of last season due to injury. However, comparing him with his fellow attacking midfield and winger counterparts, he averages low on expected assists and shot assists per 90 despite boasting excellent numbers for penetrative passing.

The 19-year-old is confident on the ball and reads the game quite well. In the game against Auxerre, as shown in the images above, he makes a good darting run down wide to start the counter-attack and his early scanning helps him launch a through ball that gets his team into a one-vs-one opportunity with the keeper. He gets taken out by the incoming defender’s challenge, but the quick acceleration to reach the ball and pull off that first-time through ball stands out.

His passing is good, with composure over short and long distances. He has the ability to go for diagonal long balls and switch play if needed in addition to breaking the lines with his turns and well-weighted ground passes.

Despite his strengths in passing, sometimes, he tends to take longer and his decision-making is also suspect occasionally. However, he has only played just over 1,000 minutes of Ligue 2 football and with what he has shown so far, his skillset in possession is very laudable. An added positive of his game is the way he takes his first touch and sets himself, whether it is on his weaker left foot or his stronger right. This aids him make passes quicker when there is an opportunity.

Diakité tends to go lunging in on the ground at times. If he is going to transition into a deeper player, he will have to put in a lot of work and be more composed in his tackling. Standing at 5ft 8in, he is not very tall, and his aerial success rate is a consequence of that.

Despite some of those weaknesses, Diakité looks like a player who is likely to play Ligue 1 football in the near future, and it will be interesting to see if there is foreign interest.

Saidou Sow (Saint-Etienne)

Nationality: Guinean; Age: 20; Position: Centre-back; Preferred foot: Right; 

Height: 6ft 1in

The final player on this list is Saidou Sow from Saint-Etienne, who were relegated from Ligue 1 last season. Sow is a right-footed centre-back who is good on the ball and could be one for the long term for Celtic, considering Moritz Jenz’s signing recently. However, Celtic might have to act quicker to land Sow considering how the likes of Liverpool and others have shown interest in the young Guinean defender.

He is good at distributing the ball and he’d fit in nicely at a possession-based team who likes to play out from the back. While his passing over short ranges is good, it is his long passes that stand out.

The images above are from Saint-Etienne’s game against Lille, where Sow is given time on the ball, and he makes full use of it to pick out a runner splitting the opposition centre-backs with a perfect long ball. Sow is capable of switching play with ease, dropping wide in possession, and playing long balls in the channels.

Although he doesn’t rank very high on the ball progression graph, it is safe to say that it’ll scale if he moves to a more stable team with plenty of ball possession.

On the defensive side, the Guinea international is quite strong as he asserts himself in challenges. He has a very high ground duels win rate but the high volume of defensive duels attempted is down to him playing for Saint-Etienne who had a poor season last year.

Aerially, he has a good leap but fails to jump in at the right moment at times. It can also be noted that his jumps are leaning forward, resulting in him missing the ball and getting the player’s back frequently. In terms of physicality, he imposes that well, especially when he is tight and he can be daunting for a forward.

He is not often found going sliding in but he uses his legs efficiently trying to knock the ball off the opponent’s feet and pushing it out of play or away from the player. His awareness is decent but does still need tuning. He can sometimes be dragged towards the ball and lose the man in behind. However, he bails himself out with his recovery pace.

Sow might end up being a far-fetched option for Celtic with interest from richer clubs in Europe but if they can land the Guinea centre-back, it should go down as one of the most interesting deals, given he continues his development in Ligue 2 this season.