Glen Mullan’s ethos of building a good youth set up is already beginning to take shape at Espanyol. Other the coming weeks we will review some of the youngsters he is tipping to make an impact.

REDA KHADRA

Khadra came through the ranks at Borussia Dortmund, and is of Lebanese descent. During his time there he helped Dortmund win both the under 17 and under 19 Bundesliga. Khadra despite predominantly being a wide player, contributed a number of goals during his time in the youth set up, before being snapped up by English Premier league side Brighton.

Khadra has already made his debut at Premier League level as a substitute but an injury soon after ruled him out for the rest of his first season.

After impressing Blackburn in a pre season friendly, Rovers made the move to sign the flying winger on loan for the season to fill the void of another teen sensation Harvey Elliott who returned to his parent club liverpool after a very successful season at Blackburn.

Khadra has had initially bide his time to get regurlar starts at Blackburn however in the last couple of months has become a regurlar. During that period he has become a lethal weapon with his unbelievable pace and close ball control. Chipping in with 3 goals and 5 assist already, his involvement has coincided with Blackburn marching up the table to second place in the Championship.

Strengths- Tony Mowbray states “he’s the fastest player he’s ever coached” . Khadra covers the ground quickly and is equally at home on either wing, or playing down the middle. His dribbling skills are exceptional, as is his ability to put dangerous balls into the box at pace. He has an eye for goal, and has shown that can be from 25 yards or 5 yards.

Weaknesses – He is not the tallest player and prefers the ball into feet or into space as he offers no aieral threat. He needs to get his head up more, as sometimes he will beat 4 or 5 players but fails to then pass when the opportunity is on. He is still young and can be pushed off the ball in high physical games.

CONCLUSION – Khadra has come through a good education at youth level, and is already standing out in the Championship which is historically physical and demanding. As with Harvey Elliott, he is showing all the attributes to step up to Premiership football and be a real threat. Currently valued at £200k by transfer market, that value in real time terms is soaring. Brighton have pulled off a blinder securing him. Khadra has the potential to become an international player, and certainly head up to the 87/88 mark on SM within a couple of seasons if he can maintain regurlar games. Other clubs will be taking notice of the progress he is making and Espanyol see him as a long term prospect.

“I’m fortunate as a Blackburn Supporter that I see Reda play week in week out. He is currently keeping Dolan out the team, who himself has been a revelation, and also Leighton Clarkson who has returned to Liverpool due to struggling to break into the rovers side. His understanding with Brereton Diaz has been the Catalyst of rovers march into automatic promotion contenders. In a 50/50 foot race no one has been able to live with his pace. He is an excellent talent, who will go on to bigger and better things. I picked him up straight away for Espanyol and note that he only appears to have come to the attention of Dan at Juventus with him on his shortlist. Given Dan’s eye for young talent, thats a positive sign. He has at present just a 68 rating, and i’m looking fowards to the rises and seeing how far he can go. I recall watching Jude Bellingham play as a 16 year old in one of his first games for Birmingham. You could see he was going all the way to the top, Harvey Elliott is similar, and now I put Khadra in that bracket as a serious young player to watch”

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