The AS Monaco midfielder is one of the revelations of the start of the season in Ligue 1. With three goals – including two against OM – and an assist, Maghnes Akliouche also moved to the Bleuets de Thierry Henry. Portrait.
What strikes you first when you meet Maghnes Akliouche for the first time is his look. A piercing blue: that of a shark. “If you look in his eyes, there’s something that tells you that you shouldn’t mess around with him.”says Espoirs coach Thierry Henry about him.
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A determination that Maghnes Akliouche, born February 25, 2002, worked on in the Paris region. “I started like everyone else, at the bottom of my building around 4-5 years old”he explains to franceinfo, at the urging of his father, a big football fan. “Then I returned to the Clairefontaine National Football Institute, I stayed there for two years before joining Monaco. A very important step, which helped me a lot in discipline and regularity of performance. When I come back, I see the buildings again, it brings back good memories.”
“Thierry Henry asked us to come back with shoes”
The player grew up on the Rock, in Monaco: arriving at the age of 15, in 2017, he took the steps one by one. He even meets a certain… Thierry Henry, not yet ASM coach. “I have a memory of him when I was at the training center. He came to the cafeteria. We were in tap shoes. He asked us to come back with shoes”, he smiles. From now on, he sits at the same table as “Titi” and drinks in his words: “We are very attentive to the advice he can give us.”
After having climbed the ranks, having passed through the elite group – the reserve team was removed from the national championship, now the team composed only of young people from the training center, continues friendly matches in France and abroad -, Maghnes Akliouche knocks on the door of the Monaco club’s first team. His first appearance in Ligue 1 was in 2021, at Groupama Stadium in Lyon: nine appearances that season, then 22 the following with a first goal, during the elimination against Rodez, in the 32nd final of the Cup of France.
A creative with a collective appetite
Rather discreet, it is on the pitch that he fully expresses his talent: a profile which fits perfectly with what Thierry Henry wants. An old-fashioned number 10, which adds slightly less usual assets to its range. “What impresses me the most is the way he presses, the way he always wants the ball, his activity, his desire, his intention”explains the Espoirs coach, during the press conference on Monday.
And to specify: “I’m not talking about his qualities which are enormous, in particular turning, going forward, making the last pass. What impresses me is his work without the ball. This intelligence to stop two meters away before being eaten by a dribble. And not stupidly throwing himself into the press. He has this ability to understand with and without the ball.”
The assistant coach of the Espoirs, Gérald Baticle, interviewed by franceinfo, about the environment, is also under the spell: “He is a player who is hungry, it is very important in a group to have this type of profile, which transmits his appetite to the partnersunderlines the ex-Angers coach. For us, it’s a joy to have this type of player, he doesn’t make a lot of noise, but he talks with the ball and that’s the most important thing in football.” A portrait that suits the 21-year-old. “It’s very complimentary”he slips, his eyes sparkling, a smirk, “and that’s what I try to convey, this determination. You give me a minute, two minutes, I try to be at 200% all the time.”
A fan of Zidane and Iniesta, Akliouche defines himself as a “creative”Who “can and helps teammates in the last 30 meters”. And to add: “To score or to pass? Both are important, the objective is to be decisive, if there are both, that’s good”he points out, all smiles.
This is good, against OM, for his first start of the season, he achieved both: a double, and an assist. “A pride, facing such an adversary” and headaches for his trainer Adi Hütter: “He’s training fantastic, it’s not easy for me because I have a lot of players applying to start in the XI.”
Playing time in Monaco despite competition
With a bloated squad, competition from the Russian Golovin, the Japanese Minamino – both international starters in their selections – and even his training friend Eliesse Ben Seghir, Maghnes Akliouche has a lot to do. “There is very strong competition, in a big club like Monaco, it’s logicalhe concedes to Franceinfo. But she is very healthy, she pushes us to the top, to perform very well in training and during matches, it’s a very good thing.”
And to conclude: “Today in my position there is a player like Golovin who is one of the very best in Ligue 1. Just by training with him, I learn a lot from each other on a daily basis. “It’s important to watch it, but also to show it when you have the opportunity.”
And opportunities, Maghnes Akliouche will have them this season: if Monaco is counting on him, Lille came to the information and even offered a little more than 10 million euros to secure his services. Refusal from the Principality club. “The club trusts me, I was trained there, and they gave me my chance at the high level, that’s clearly what weighed in the balance. I hope to do great things with this club. “ And to continue doing what he does best: talking with the ball.