Who is Adil Aouchiche? The 'very talented' Sunderland star admired by Thomas Tuchel that is Pompey's latest transfer target

As brought to you by The News, the Blues are looking to their Championship rivals as an opportunity to bolster their forward options. Aouchiche could be allowed to leave the Stadium of Light on loan this month, and Pompey are ready to move.

The shock arrival of Enzo Le Fee at Sunderland has pushed the Frenchman down the pecking order, and whilst they rate Aouchiche highly, a loan move to a rival could be of a huge benefit to him. Building up his minutes would be beneficial for his parent club whilst Pompey would be getting a player who could make all the difference in their relegation battle.

‘Adil, it's still open,’ said Le Bris to sister paper the Sunderland Echo earlier this month when discussing his future.

‘We want for both sides, Adil and the club, we want to open up different options and at the end we will decide what is the better option for the both.’

With attacking reinforcements needed after they were shut out against Millwall, several other names are likely to come up before the window shuts on Monday. Here’s the lowdown on the latest player to be linked with a move to Fratton Park.

Adil Aouchiche’s profile

Born in Le Blanc-Mesnil in France, Aouchiche came through the academy system of Paris Saint-Germain, making three appearances for their first-team. He was let go for free, and joined Saint-Etienne in 2020, and made 77 appearances across two seasons, scoring two goals in the French top-flight.

Lorient signed him in 2022, making 12 appearances, and then in September 2023, Sunderland signed him, with Aouchiche penning a five-year contract. The transfer fee was undisclosed, but at the moment, he has a valuation of €2.50m on TransferMarkt.

Predominantly an attacking midfielder, Aouchiche is also capable of playing on the left-hand side. This term, he's made 10 appearances for Sunderland, registering two assists. In search of game time, he dropped in to their under-21s team and got two goals and an assist in the Premier League 2.

After making an appearance in their second game of the season in August, he had to wait until the end of November until he'd appear in the league again. Towards the end of December, Aouchiche had a run of five games in the side, but in recent weeks he has been an unused substitute. His record at Sunderland to date is 38 appearances with four assists and two goals.

What has been said about Adil Aouchiche?

Tony Mowbray was the manager of Sunderland when the player arrived in England. At the end of September 2023, he branded the youngster a 'talented boy' and painted a picture of what kind of player he is.

'He is very talented, it’s just than in my mind at this moment he’s still finding the discipline of the position we want to play him in,' Mowbray said to the Sunderland Echo.

'He tends to roam around and he wants the ball, he’s very tidy and technical but at the moment we’re asking the team to play with a bit more discipline positionally.

'Once Adil grasps that, I will have no fears of putting him in because he is good enough to play in our team, for sure.’

During his time at PSG, he played three times, and they all came under Thomas Tuchel who is now the head coach of the England national team. At the time of his departure from Parc des Princes, the German was not happy about him leaving.

“It was hard for Adil to find a place in midfield,” said Tuchel at the time.

‘I can understand him trying another club to pick up playing time there. But of course, I’m not happy, he has a lot of talent.’

Former Leicester City and Southampton manager Claude Puel is who the eight-time France under-20 international has played the most football under. Aouchiche apparently rejected a move to the King Power Arena to sign with Saint-Etienne, with Puel at the the time speaking of the need to mature.

“Adil still needs to improve and mature," he said. We will support him in his progress by being patient and constructive, as with all the young people of quality that we are fortunate to have in our squad.”