El Chadaille Bitshiabu
Country: France/DR Congo
Date of birth: 16/05/2005 (17 years old)
Place of birth: Villeneuve-Saint-Georges (France)
Height: 196cm
Youth career: US Saint-Denis, AC Boulogne-Billancourt, Paris Saint-Germain (since 2017)
Current club: Paris Saint-Germain
Squad number: 31
Current national team: France U-19
Position: central defender, left-back, defensive midfielder
Preferred foot: left
Market value (by transfermarkt.de): 2.000.000 €
Tournaments participated in: UEFA Youth League 2021/2022 (6/1), UEFA Youth League 2022/2023 (1/0), 2022 UEFA European Under-17 Championship qualification elite round (2/0), 2022 UEFA European Under-17 Championship (5/0)
Contract until: 30.06.2024
Player’s agent: unknown
Transfer rumours: —
Similar type of player: Benoît Badiashile
Strengths:
– tackling 
– positioning
– anticipation
– aerial duels
– athleticism
– pace 
– passing
– technique
– work rate
– bravery
To improve:
– minor concentration issues when on the ball – misplaced passes in dangerous zones, heavy touches, etc.
– man marking/can be caught on ‘ball watching’
– defending on his weaker side
– operating with his weaker right foot
Style of play:
– complete, elegant, and dominant centre-back
– modern defender who combines strength with good technique and passing at all distances
– perfect mix of a pure defender and a ball-playing centre-back
– player with very good body mass ratio, physical strength, power, and natural fitness who feels very comfortable in contact situations
– able to play as a left-sided centre-back in a three-man defence system or even as a left-back in a four-man line if needed
– physical phenomenon with superb pace and coordination for his size
– cultured passer with a proclivity for breaking the lines with intricate vertical balls
– good composure and retention skills under pressure
– likes to spread play with good long-range diagonals
– prefers an active style of defending by getting into challenges and pressing opponents
– consistent, aggressive, and hard-tackling defender
– fearless and good at timing tackles, both sliding and standing
– very high tackling success and ball recovery rate
– registers a high number of blocks and clearances per game thanks to his positioning and ability to read the game
– knows how to use his upper-body strength to gain advantage in challenges/wins most of the physical duels
– extremely dominant in the air
– courageous, committed, tenacious, and willing to sacrifice
– very good at recovering from mistakes thanks to his long legs, recovery pace, and determination
– above-average leadership skills, he seems to be a quiet but determined player/potential leader in the future
Bitshiabu shows a superb recovery pace and wins the ball back with a very well-timed tackle.
Bitshiabu stays calm under pressure and plays a superb line-breaking pass to his teammate.
Bitshiabu outmuscles his opponent with ease and wins the ball back.
Heatmap by Wyscout:
He is best suited to playing as:
Central defender in 4-3-3.
Video:
Achievements:
2022 UEFA European Under-17 Championship winner with France.
League summary (as for 9 January 2023):
National 3 2021/2022: 3 games/0 goals (PSG II)
Ligue 1 2021/2022: 1 game/0 goals (PSG)
Ligue 1 2022/2023 (ongoing): 2 games/0 goals (PSG)
Description:
El Chadaille Bitshiabu joined the Paris Saint-Germain Academy from Boulogne-Billancourt in 2017. He is considered to be one of the most talented centre-backs of his generation in Europe. He showed himself to a wider crowd at the 2022 European Under-17 Championship – he was one of the best defenders at the tournament which Les Bleuets deservedly won showing a superb generation of players such as Mathys Tel, Valentin Atangana Edoa, Jeanuël Belocian, Saël Kumbedi, Warren Zaire-Emery, Désiré Doué, Ayman Aiki, Christian Mawissa Elebi, Naim Byar, Mamadou Sarr, and Tom Saettel. Bitshiabu made his first team debut for PSG in a 3–0 Coupe de France win over Feignies Aulnoye on 19 December 2021 – at the age of 16 years and 213 days he became the youngest player to appear in an official match for the club, breaking the previous record set by Kingsley Coman.
Quotes:
“The towering centre-back burst on the scene at his hometown club as a 12-year-old who was already 6ft 4in tall and became the club’s youngest-ever player to appear in an official match in December aged 16 years and 213 days. “At first, I was a bit stressed, especially in the first few minutes, because I saw all these great players and because the club gave me the opportunity to play with the professional team,” he said of training with PSG’s galaxy of stars for the first time last season. “But after that, I told myself that it was time to relax.” He attracted interest from Arsenal, Manchester City and Bayern Munich this summer but PSG did not want to lose one of their brightest prospects.”
(The Guardian in their ‘Next Generation 2022: 60 of the best young talents in world football’ series)
Football Talent Scout potential rating:
World-class potential.
Links: