Rayan Ait-Nouri has been a breath of fresh air this season for Wolves – and the youngster left Jean-Ricner Bellegarde impressed following his latest display for Algeria.
The 22-year-old has enjoyed a terrific campaign under Gary O’Neil, turning around his fortunes at Molineux after being completely out of favour under Julen Lopetegui.
Ait-Nouri has featured heavily so far, making 29 appearances across all competitions and playing over 2000 minutes.
In recent weeks, he has really stepped up amid injuries to Matheus Cunha, Pedro Neto and Hwang Hee-chan, operating a little further forward than usual.
Playing high up allows him to dazzle, and that was the case last night as he played against South Africa for Algeria…
Jean-Ricner Bellegarde wowed after seeing clip of Wolves teammate Rayan Ait-Nouri playing for Algeria
Ait-Nouri played for Algeria last night, featuring in his second game of the international break after Algeria took on Bolivia last week.
The £10 million star lined up as a left-back, but the star got forward every opportunity he could.
There was one moment in the game where Ait-Nouri actually got many people in the crowd off their feet in amazement.
He had the ball pretty much on the touchline in a left wing position.
He shifted the ball to his left away from one player, before he was then faced with two defenders. Ait-Nouri then audaciously flip-flapped the ball through one defender’s legs, getting past the two of them.
Unfortunately, a third came in to help and draw a foul from the Wolves man, but it was a lovely piece of skill that excited the supporters in the stadium.
The moment also impressed Bellegarde. He replied to a journalist on X who had uploaded a clip of the moment, writing ‘This guy is too much’ with a laughing and heart eyes emoji.
Aside from this, Ait-Nouri’s post-match statistics were very solid. As per Sofascore, he completed 43/46 (93%) passes, had 83 touches (the most of any player in the game), contested 15 duels (the most) and made five interceptions (the most).
Ait-Nouri is a player you happily pay to watch
Ait-Nouri may have given a foul away in the end here, but there is no denying his talent and technical ability.
We have seen many times this season where he has used his quick feet to get out of tight situations, and it is simply fantastic to watch.
Ait-Nouri genuinely has an extremely high ceiling. After Neto, he is probably the Wolves player with the biggest potential.
He has really improved his efficiency and decision-making in recent times but ultimately, he is just a fabulous player to watch play football, and that is what it is all about.