Brooded at OL for several years, Amine Gouiri took off last summer. With the Aiglons, the French striker is spreading his wings and flying towards success by carrying the Riviera club on his shoulders. He now has an appointment with the French Espoirs team. Itinerary of a gifted young person.
Youth in high gear
In a family where football occupies an enormous place, Amine Gouiri was born on February 16, 2000, in the Lyon region. In his first team at L’Isle-d’Abeau, he was quickly the object ofa constant upgrade. According to his educators, he had innate playing power and intelligence. On the pitch, he was quickly drawn to the goal.
Already too big, Amine Gouiri joined the Bourgoin club in 2011. His educators had not then never seen a kid with so many qualities at that age. Gouiri will also appear in another meeting: the Danone Nations Cup. He stands out in the competition, with a top scorer title, obtained thanks to his nine goals scored in eight matches. Enough to convince Olympique Lyonnais to bring him in. The striker then lives a dream by joining Olympique Lyonnais at his 13th birthday, he who has OL in his skin.
???? Congratulations to @aminegouiri for his signature at the@ogcnice. Top scorer at the DNC 2012 with 9 achievements! Here is a little glimpse of his talent at 12 years old ????#DNC2012 #PlayFootballChangeTheGame pic.twitter.com/CY6o8JdOXq
— Danone Nations Cup (@danonenationcup) July 2, 2020
A remarkable debut at OL and in Blue
Amine Gouiri therefore arrives in Lyon for the 2013-14 season. According to Armand Garrido, a major player in Lyon training, “He was in the line of great attackers” that OL have known. There, the footballer of the 2000 generation, that of Maxence Caqueret in particular, quickly got everyone to agree. Considered a very promising training center player, he thus crossed all the stages one after the other with the Gones. Early beginnings, a skilful striker in front of goal: obviously, the rapprochement with Karim Benzema was quickly made in the Rhône.
His profile then pleases Bruno Genesio, Lyon coach at the time, to the point that at the beginning of September 2016, when he was still only 16 years old, he was summoned to face Bordeaux in Ligue 1. Gouiri then found a big brother in the Lyon workforce, in the person of Nabil Fekir. He gave her a lot of advice, and explained the workings of the professional world. “I saw myself in him”, he admitted on OLTV.
At the same time, as soon as the boy joins the French youth teams, the counters explode. During Euro U17, he scored eight goals in four matches. A few months later, at the U17 World Cup, he slammed five goals in three group matches.
Gouiri convinces more and more and finally enters Ligue 1 for the first time against Montpellier on November 19, 2017, to then benefit from only a few minutes until the end of the exercise. If he doesn’t play a lot with the pros, Lyon made him sign his first professional contract in April 2018. The 2018-19 season looks like a springboard to take a real step forward. Unfortunately, it will only last a few weeks.
The Crusaders, halt in its progress
OL are starting to make room for him, his coach loves him and wants him to play. However, he returned exhausted from the U19 European Championship, where he finished top scorer once again. In August 2018, during a training with the Lyon reserve, Amine Gouiri collapsed, and uttered a cry of pain. The verdict falls: the attacker is victim of a cruciate ligament rupture.
As if to show the confidence granted, OL made him sign a contract extension during his convalescence until June 2022. When it came time to return to the field in April 2019, Gouiri learned. This ordeal has shown him that football is not always all rosy as it may have happened for him since he was very young.
An end of history with OL with a taste of unfinished business
Full of hopes for the 2019-20 season, Amine Gouiri disillusioned. After the dismissal of Sylvinho at the head of OL, Rudi Garcia arrives, but nothing changes, despite a rather encouraging speech at the youth level. The attacker remains confined to the Youth League with young talents from Lyon, where he performs well, failing to be summoned to the pros. It is also, in November 2019, the first player to play in the Youth League at the start of the afternoon, and to return to the Champions League the same evening. It is despite everything summoned to the France Espoirs team, where he plays his first minutes, and is the only element of the group to be a reserve player.
At the end of 2019, Jeff Reine-Adélaïde and Memphis Depay suffered a serious knee injury. The perfect opportunity for Gouiri? Not even. Lyon decides to recruit (Karl Toko Ekambi arrives) and tries to lend Gouiri during the winter transfer window, which he refuses. He then despairs, and his frustration turns to anger. It keep playing with the reserve team, where he will even sign a quadruplet in one half during a match in February 2020, after registering a double in the Youth League a few days earlier.
During the last summer preseason, Rudi Garcia lets go that “If young people don’t play, it’s because they don’t have the level”. The Rhone coach is therefore still not counting on him, and in the summer of 2020, Amine Gouiri joins Nice for only 7 million euros and a percentage on resale. It is then the end of a seven-year adventure, with inevitably this feeling of waste. Many Lyon supporters criticize this decision, even more today given the level displayed by the striker in Ligue 1.
The successful flight of the Aiglon
A l’OGC Nice, the young striker signs for 4 years. “We could see from the first training that he really has incredible qualities. He has a very bright future ahead of him ”, confided the experienced Schneiderlin upon his arrival. Author of a double against Lens for his entry in the 1time day, his first season is not yet over that we can already talk about revelation.
This season, Amine Gouiri is the providential man of OGC Nice. Often in good shots, the Nice striker has shown himself essential to the workforce of the Aiglons. Evidenced by its 16 goals scored, as well as its 7 assists issued, all competitions. He is both the club’s top scorer and best passer, at just 21 years old. Apart from impressive performances in the league, the 21-year-old striker has also confirmed during the group stage of the Europa League played by OGC Nice this season, contributing greatly to the offensive animation of his people.
Since the start of the season, the young man multiply masterclasses. The latest, the one against Marseille (3-0) last weekend with a goal and an assist, just to make this name resonate well: Amine Gouiri.
✨ Another big match@aminegouiri today !
???? 4 tirs
???? 3 shots on target
⚽️ 1 but
???? 1 assistWhat grade on ???? for the scorer of the@ogcnice ? ????#OGCNOM pic.twitter.com/xAPINWqVis
— Ligue 1 Uber Eats (@Ligue1UberEats) March 20, 2021
Constantly outclassed during his youth, dropped by OL where he dreamed of flourishing, Amine Gouiri now has all the weapons to break everything in Ligue 1 in Nice. Sylvain Ripoll, coach of the Espoirs, was not mistaken. Amine Gouiri is present during the first round of Euro U21, which is currently taking place in Hungary and Slovenia. Gouiri may well shine there, and bring the Bleuets to the top. Before going to the older ones? At the crazy pace displayed by the Niçois, things could go very quickly.
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