El Bilal Toure – Stade de Reims’ striking wunderkind
El Bilal Toure moved from Mali to France in January as he was a sought-after commodity by ample clubs in Europe as Napoli, Ajax, Red Bull Salzburg and Monaco were clamouring for his signature. He chose to move to Stade de Reims as Yannick Menu who was the Assistant Sports Director at Monaco, and followed the career of Toure, moved to Reims as the Director of Training last summer. Menu believed he had rarely seen a player with such potential and compiled a thick file on the youngster, pushing through his interest and inviting the youngster to Marne for a tour of the academy. The youngster then moved to Reims as he was supposed to settle with the youth teams until the summer before being promoted to the first team.
Toure played two games with the academy, scoring two goals and one assist before being promoted to the first team where he has been a starter. He chose to move to Reims due to the ease of adapting to the language and the proximity to Paris while once he arrived in Reims, he surprised coaches by buying gym equipment to improve his fitness and physique instead of clothes or cars. Toure has always had a strong character as Mali’s capital city, Bamako is growing into Africa’s epicentre of elite player development with the country being dominant in youth tournaments and players progressing into top European Leagues. The 18-year-old holds a dual passport as he was born in Ivory Coast and moved to Bamako to progress his playing career at 15-years-old.
He played for the U20 National Team at 17-years-old at the U20 African Cup of Nations as he exceeded expectations as Mamoutou Kane was criticized for including him before he showed an unyielding confidence in the youngster. The teenager was supposed to be at the U20 World Cup in Poland last summer but could not make the tournament due to visa issues. The Malian shows such a seriousness in maintaining and building on his physique in order to follow in the footsteps of his idol, Cristiano Ronaldo. He may not be a statistical analyst’s favourite player as he has scored three penalties since joining as those have been his only goals in Ligue 1, but his all-round game makes him a precocious young talent to build on.
He is a modern day forward as he can hold the ball up and link-up play while also running in behind for through-balls and chips to have one-on-one opportunities. In the fledgling stages of his career, there have been sequences where he has run onto chipped balls and angling his body to have shots on goal. However, he will need to improve his finishing as when he angles his body he fails to caress the ball past the keeper as he has failed to score in open play as his finishing can be erratic. There is also the issue of him and his teammates adapting to his movements inside the box as when a winger drives to the by-line, he will veer closer to the ball-near flank while the winger will cross to the back-post.
There are moments when he drops deep as his midfielder looks to work a pass in behind or make a run to the back-post when his winger on the opposite flank cuts-back to the top of the box. Toure enjoys receiving the ball in build-up with his back to goal as he is a lanky and lumbering physical presence with pace to run into the channels. Teammates will play balls into the channels for him as he will charge into the wide areas to receive the ball and lay-off a pass into a teammate. He can lay off the ball to teammates to drive into the central areas while he can also move into the wide areas to allow teammates to make runs into the half-spaces or central areas beyond him. When he is in the nine space, he can move closer into the wide zone, closer to the winger so he can be a direct passing option to lay-off or flick-on a pass for a teammate to have a shooting opportunity.
His hold-up play is exquisite as he can latch on to clearances when dropping deep to keep possession and play through balls into runners in the channels. In the opposition half, he can drop off the nine space to receive possession, turn and work passes to teammates in the wide areas. Toure can receive the ball and pass with both feet, as this allows him to receive the ball in tight spaces in the opposition box to swivel and work passes. When his confidence grows, and he properly adapts to French football, his ability to receive the ball and swivel in tight spaces will allow him to fashion shots inside the box. His ability to hold up play and participate in Reim’s vertical passing sequences has added another dimension to David Guion’s attack.
As well as Toure, Reims also signed another young striker in Kaj Sierhuis from Groningen in January as next season, they could have a lethal young attacking duo. The Dutchman is 22-years-old and has mostly played with a partner in a 4-4-2 in professional football, thriving at running in behind and moving into the box to finish crosses. Toure would be able to hold up play for his teammate to get opportunities to charge in behind the opposition defence while Sierhuis is also adept at dropping deep to receive the ball. Even though Reims could lose a few players after overperforming expectations this season, they could still have a young team that could continue to be a surprise package in Ligue 1 next season.
“I felt it was time to throw it in the deep end,” said David Guion said to Le Parisien after the match against Rennes. “He is a very complete boy. El Bilal has an ability to repeat efforts, he can keep the ball back to the goal and he is able to take the depth, even if he still has to work his technique in small perimeters and his touch of the ball.”
Toure has yet to have a locker in the first-team dressing room as Guion looks to for him continue developing and earn a first team role before he officially moves. The 18-year-old looks to have made a seamless transition to France as once he begins to score goals in open play next season, he may be one of the Ligue 1 prospects to watch. Reims have used innovative scouting methods and a strong academy to sign young players from across Europe and from Africa to carefully construct a competitive side. They will be one of the teams to watch in the transfer window with some of their players moving away from the club while teams will also keep a keen eye on their talented young Malian striker.
