Newcastle United could do a lot worse than making a move for Ayyoub Bouaddi if Sandro Tonali quits St James' Park. Having shone for Morocco against Brazil last weekend, he sparkled again at the World Cup to push Morocco closer to the knockout stages.
With the likes of Liverpool, Paris St-Germain and Arsenal liking the look of the 18-year-old, it may take a fee of around £60m to tempt Lille's hand.
Bouaddi actually started the move that rocked Scotland after 71 seconds in Boston on a glorious summer evening here in Massachusetts, when Ismael Saibari timed his run perfectly before hooking a sublime finish into the top corner and beating Angus Gunn after Brahim Diaz's assist.
By then, the home of the New England Patriots had reverberated around the nearly 65,000 capacity stadium after a spine-tingling rendition of Flower of Scotland before some of that early Scottish energy was sapped.
It's not like the ex-French Under-21 skipper hadn't been pitched into a major battle in the Scottish engine room up against Bologna star Lewis Ferguson, Napoli ace Scott McTominay and Bournemouth's Ryan Christie but he never looked daunted, in fact he outshone them.
The Lille teenager then stood up to McTominay and would not let him settle on the ball as he looked far from intimidated as he demanded the ball despite having the stellar midfield cast around him in Boston.
On 18 minutes he bravely won a tackle in midfield again to set Morocco on their way but they could not finish after a pulsating start from the AFCON heavyweights, in which Bouaddi had helped set the tone for his side, as they enjoyed 75% possession in those opening exchanges.
Bouaddi's coverage and work-rate in midfield in the type of clash that is commonplace in the Premier League in terms of physicality suggested he could deal with the switch in style from Ligue 1 to the English top-flight.
As the game edged towards half-time, Bouaddi's range of passing, confidence, and swagger were there for all to see as he made it look simple, although a rare stray pass on 35 minutes resulted in a quick apology to a team-mate.
With former Man City boss Pep Guardiola watching from the stands, he could only have been impressed by the youngster, who also had Morocco's Press pack animated when he tried to smash his way into the Scotland final third.
That intent would continue into the second half as Bouaddi again began a move before Morocco clipped the crossbar with the African side pushing for a second.
By the time the high-octane encounter reached the 65th minute, Scotland had only managed to break into the final third twice through the middle of the pitch, with Bouaddi locking the midfield out.
As Steve Clarke's side chased an equaliser, the ex-Newcastle coach threw on Landon Dykes with Bouaddi making a beeline towards him and the uncompromising ex-QPR and Birmingham man shoving him in the chest, but he did not look overawed one bit.
Never mind if he could replace unsettled star Tonali or not; he may just be better than him. As he celebrated wildly with his team-mates at the end, his World Cup appears to be far from over.
