Sidiki Chérif, Angers’ 19-year-old spearhead drawing Europe’s eye | OneFootball

Sidiki Chérif, Angers’ homegrown forward and their leading scorer with four, is stirring the winter market. The 19-year-old has hurt Ligue 1 defences with pace, power and precise finishing.

According to L'Équipe, interest from across Europe could lead to the club’s biggest sale since the €25m received from OL for Jeff Reine-Adélaïde in summer 2019, a sum equivalent to Angers’ current budget.

He struck his first professional goal in the 1-1 draw with Monaco on 18 October. On 26 October against Lorient, he sped past Montassar Talbi on the right before beating Yvon Mvogo in a tight angle in a 2-0 win. Three days later at the Vélodrome, he opened the scoring in a 2-2 draw with OM after outwitting Nayef Aguerd.

Before the break on 12 December, he excelled in transition in a 4-1 win over Nantes, holding off Chidozie Awaziem and Fabien Centonze, then finishing past Anthony Lopes with a smart right-footed toe-poke.

Last season brought only seven Ligue 1 outings due to recurring thigh issues and he was not earmarked to start this term. He seized his chance after Angers could not land Rémy Labeau Lascary, Steve Mounié and Ahmed Abdullahi, and following Estéban Lepaul’s €15m move to Rennes.

Featuring in every match over the first five months has soothed fitness concerns. Born in Conakry, he joined at 12, hit 14 in 15 for the U19s at 16, stands 1.88m and can play wide or central, citing Kylian Mbappé and Rafael Leao as inspirations. On Ligue 1+, Benoît Cheyrou and Jérémy Clément praise his shot accuracy of 70.6 percent among players with 20+ attempts, note his work off the ball, and say heading and back-to-goal link play are areas to improve.

Source: L'Équipe