Chelsea target Zakaria Labyad

Nationality:Morocco
Age:18
Height:1.73 m / 5.68 ft
Weight:70 kg / 154 lbs

Chelsea aren’t alone in their admiration for PSV’s 18-year-old Moroccan Zakaria Labyard, as the winger also supposedly has Barcelona and AC Milan amongst his list of potential suitors.

Like a lot of the youngsters coming out of the Eredivisie at the moment – talent-rich to say the least – Labyad is diminutive (5″6), has a low centre of gravity, a lot of pace, and an eye for goal. Dries Martens, Giorginio Wijnaldum, John Guidetti… it’s like there’s a mould in Holland for super-talented young forwards.

The link with Chelsea first appeared in April of last year, but you have to think that given Labyad’s progression he would still appear somewhere on their radar.

He’s almost certainly going nowhere in January, but expect his name to start cropping up in gossip columns as the Summer gets nearer. Very, very talented – we’ll have to wait and see whether Andre Villas-Boas formalises his club’s interest in him.

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