Diyaeddine Abzi

[Obinna]

6 minutes ago, InglewoodJack said:

Yeah the Morocco stuff was me speculating because of his posts and him not showing up on our prelim lists. I think I wrote it somewhere in here, but morocco has a ton of players in weak leagues playing for them. Guys in Hungary, Egypt, Morocco, etc., so I don’t know if Ligue 2 is that far off from morocco calling. 
 

Ligue 2 also had 4 Ligue 1 teams relegated last season instead of 2, so the quality of the league will at the very least be marginally better this year.

Good point and I think we mentioned that before here, that Morocco isn't afraid to call players at levels similar or weaker than Ligue 2. That said, I wonder what those players are doing in those leagues? I assume the players are not at mid-table clubs in Egypt, Hungary and domestically in Morocco. I haven't looked into it, but I am willing to bet the players in questions are standouts for their clubs, if not for their leagues. Abzi is neither, so that may work against him at the present time. If he kills it next year in Ligue 2 it'll be a different story, especially if Pau make a promotion run. 

[InglewoodJack]

14 minutes ago, Obinna said:

Good point and I think we mentioned that before here, that Morocco isn't afraid to call players at levels similar or weaker than Ligue 2. That said, I wonder what those players are doing in those leagues? I assume the players are not at mid-table clubs in Egypt, Hungary and domestically in Morocco. I haven't looked into it, but I am willing to bet the players in questions are standouts for their clubs, if not for their leagues. Abzi is neither, so that may work against him at the present time. If he kills it next year in Ligue 2 it'll be a different story, especially if Pau make a promotion run. 

I have no clue how good those teams are, but yeah, I don't think playing with Pau is good enough for their nationalt eam, but it might be good enough to go to a team that is fighting for promotion, or maybe he has a really good season and a team in Ligue 1 signs him. All speculative, but my guess is that if he really is this interested in playing for Morocco, you have to think he's had some contact with them and that he's at least close enough to wait it out for a bit. I think he's where Victor Loturi was maybe a year ago, where he wasn't good enough for Canada, but close enough that he shouldn't go and get capped by South Sudan because one good season might be enough to get him on our radar, which it was.

[jordan]

Pau used two different 11’s today, was not in either of the squads.

[jordan]

Suspended for day 1, though hasn’t been seen in the wild for a few weeks

[Aird25]

On 8/5/2023 at 6:48 AM, jordan said:

Suspended for day 1, though hasn’t been seen in the wild for a few weeks

Rumours seem to be that he might be on the move. If true it'll be interesting to see where he ends up.

[jordan]

Leganes on loan

https://x.com/paufootballclub/status/1691104999559114752?s=46&t=KtwBDROwUH8sPUlYu2GlIA 

[narduch]

Interesting. Spanish Liga 2.

I would argue a loan up.

[Ozzie_the_parrot]

 

[king1010]

Nice little step up. 

[Shway]

4 minutes ago, king1010 said:

Nice little step up. 

only if he play mores.

[Obinna]

Very nice step up. Leganés were in La Liga not so long ago. 

Reminds me of the Ugbo loan where he's sort of being loaned upward. Either way, good for him.

But bad news for Canada? This brings him closer to a Morocco call in my mind. Obviously it's nowhere near a certainty, but Abzi has rejected us before - you think he will accept a call now if he's playing at a higher level (and in the Spanish system no less)? He's young enough to bide his time and wait to see what happens with his career before he commits. I see this as pushing back the day he wears the Maple leaf, but hope I am wrong.

Either way, going from PLSQ to the CanPL to Leganés is a real success story.

[king1010]

11 minutes ago, Shway said:

only if he play mores.

I'd argue it's a step up even if he plays the same amount. Segunda Division > Ligue 2

[VinceA]

Damn so Northern Futbol (I think) was right. It was months ago where it was mentioned the plan for him was to play one season with Pau then move to the Segunda.

[narduch]

2 minutes ago, VinceA said:

Damn so Northern Futbol (I think) was right. It was months ago where it was mentioned the plan for him was to play one season with Pau then move to the Segunda.

That rumour is so old it may have been Nef

[youllneverwalkalone]

I'm not going to comment until UT tells me what I should think of this, but I feel happy. 

[Aird25]

It looks like his competition for minutes is likely Enric Franquesa who's on loan from Levante and has 75 La Liga2 matches and 18 La Liga matches under his belt. 

[InglewoodJack]

My spanish is pretty rusty, but is this a loan with option to buy? That's what it reads like to me. Nice move for him. He should come home and play for his country too.

[Metro]

2 hours ago, VinceA said:

Damn so Northern Futbol (I think) was right. It was months ago where it was mentioned the plan for him was to play one season with Pau then move to the Segunda.

Are both clubs owned by the same entity?

[Aird25]

 

[Obinna]

Is it just me or is it surreal to see him with Leganés? 

[sebdeserio]

49 minutes ago, Obinna said:

Is it just me or is it surreal to see him with Leganés? 

I don't know he's likely going as a backup as their current left back is a 26 year old who had a season in La Liga in 2021-2022 and the last 2 seasons they've been solidly mid table. Don't think he's at a higher level than any other CPL grad and he seems to have had a decent season at Pau were he at least showed he belonged at the level.

[An Observer]

1 hour ago, sebdeserio said:

. Don't think he's at a higher level than any other CPL grad 

There are not too many CPL grads who are playing second division soccer in one of the countries that has a top 5 league globally so I would beg to differ on this statement

[sebdeserio]

16 minutes ago, An Observer said:

There are not too many CPL grads who are playing second division soccer in one of the countries that has a top 5 league globally so I would beg to differ on this statement

That's exactly what he was doing at Pau why would it be different now? Ligue 2 got reinforced with 4 relegations in Ligue 1 last year so don't imagine the level is drastically different. Waterman, Farsi and Macnaughton are starters/important players in MLS which is at least a comparable level to the non championship second tiers. 

[Unnamed Trialist]

On 8/14/2023 at 10:06 AM, youllneverwalkalone said:

I'm not going to comment until UT tells me what I should think of this, but I feel happy. 

Control those emotions, this is serious stuff!

[Unnamed Trialist]

Well as mentioned it is a loan up, in fact a major step up. Great for him.

Leganés lost to Andorra first match at home, after that the reports commented that it was not surprising since they hadn't spent any money (Andorra has no fan base but is owned by Gerard Pique and has money). Now they are saying that they still need 3-4 more before the window closes. But if you look objectively at this, Leganés is taking a player on loan with what for them is an extremely low salary, I wonder even if Abzi was making the Spanish 2nd tier minimum. So it is a  move to get up and coming quality for a low price, in fact it reinforces the opinion they are not willing to spend.

I am concerned he'll get exposed though, and if he does, he may end up without minutes. As is, I don't like Leganés, am not a fan, but it is a solid team with similar ambitions to those other clubs in metropolitan Madrid like Getafe or Alcorcón. 

I didn't know but it is owned by former Houston Astros GM Jeff Luhnow, I don't know the details, think the purchase was recent though.

To those commenting on the levels: Pau and about 2/3s of the Ligue 2 table would relegate immediately out of Spanish 2nd division. Maybe 5-6 really have the level (Girondins, St Etienne, Auxerre, Bastia, Ajaccio). I'd even argue that if Ligue 1 is just a step and a half down from the big four top flights, the French second division is even further lower than any of the top 2nd tiers.