Patrice Evra has been speaking about Wolves youngster Rayan Ait-Nouri, revealing he really enjoys his attacking style.
Ait-Nouri, who signed for Wanderers for £10 million from Angers, has enjoyed a tremendous first third of the 2023/24 season.
After struggling badly for minutes under Julen Lopetegui, Ait-Nouri has come in from the cold to play a huge part for Gary O’Neil, featuring in every game so far in some capacity.
Ait-Nouri’s performances have started to attract attention ahead of the January transfer window, but the club supposedly have absolutely zero intention of letting him go.
Ait-Nouri is definitely a very fun player to watch at times, and Evra really likes the way he plays…
Patrice Evra is a big fan of Wolves star Rayan Ait-Nouri
Former Manchester United full-back Evra was at Molineux to watch the 2-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur, in which Ait-Nouri was absolutely superb.
Evra was actually there to see Mario Lemina, who he used to play with at Juventus.
Wolves Express took the opportunity to ask Evra about Ait-Nouri, since the five-time Premier League winner was also a left-sided defender during his playing days.
He said: “He’s better than I (was)! I love the fact he likes to play forward and go beyond and be like a fourth attacker.
“I can see also sometimes some runs inside, I was like ‘keep doing that’ because sometimes people expect you to overlap. Sometimes when you go inside and you leave your winger alone, you create more confusion.”
Dribbling and ball-carrying are two of Ait-Nouri’s best qualities, and the 22-year-old said recently that he prefers to play as a wing-back because it is more natural to him and he can be more offensive.
Ait-Nouri has the potential to become top-class
Wolves fans are rightly buzzing with the way Ait-Nouri has started the season, and he now looks like the exciting young player who first came to Molineux.
He appears to be relishing playing under O’Neil, and the recent system change has helped him to become even better.
He just needs to keep his head down now and work hard. The £10,000-a-week man has the shirt right now and it’s up to him to keep it.
There is genuine potential for him to become a top-class left wing-back or left-back. If he can improve the defensive side of his game, and recent data has suggested he is doing that, then he will become some player. As O’Neil said recently, the sky can be the limit for him.