Mounir Chouiar: Dijon’s Diamond in the Rough.

Written by Liam, @liamwlfc, on April 6th 2021.

Mounir Chouiar hasn’t had the best time of things this season with his club, Dijon, set to plummet into France’s second division after a rather disappointing Ligue 1 campaign.

A campaign that sees them lie 14 points off the relegation playoff places with 7 games to go. Young Chouiar, however, continues to be one of the bright sparks within the Les Hiboux ranks and fans of Dijon may fear that, with their top-flight status expiring, their tricky winger will be in the search of pastures new.

At 22, Chouiar is relatively unknown outside of Ligue 1 but has emerged as one of the most exciting wingers to be developed in the league since his arrival in Eastern France from Lens for a fee of £3.15m.

An adept dribbler, ranking within the 93rd percentile of wingers and attacking midfielders for completed dribbles per 90 with an average of 3.25, the former Lens man is very confident with the ball at his feet and getting his team up the pitch. This is something that Dijon have lacked massively this season.

The French U21 international has real creative intention too, ranking 14th in Ligue 1 this season for shot-creating actions per 90, ahead of the likes of celebrated Lucas Paqueta of Lyon and Johnathan Bamba of Lille.

His assist numbers would indicate otherwise with him only notching 2 assists this season in Ligue 1 but Dijon have only managed 20 goals all season, so these numbers would likely be elevated in a team that is much more efficient in front of goal.

These numbers rank 2nd among Dijon’s roster showing how poor Les Hiboux have been in front of goal this season with Chouiar being one of the top performers in a team that has struggled massively

Last season the Frenchman had a much more productive season in front of goal with him notching 6 goals in all competitions, though he hasn’t yet managed to get his name on the scoresheet this season. However, xG has him scoring 1.7 showing an underperformance in this department.

Goals haven’t been easy to come by for Dijon this season as shown with their struggles in the chance creation department - they have the lowest shot and goal creating actions in Ligue 1 this season.

He’s also rather useful in defensive transition with an average of 1.7 tackles a game (79th percentile) and 1.7 blocks (86th percentile), showing when the team has to defend, he has a willingness to work hard for his side. This quality is extremely useful for teams who base their attacking threat on counter-attacks with his ability to carry to ball up the pitch.

He averages 6.82 progressive carries, which is very solid especially when considering he plays in a team that is rather defensively-minded and spend a lot of time defending their own box.

The numbers aren’t out of this world there’s no denying that but Mounir has a high ceiling and a lot of progressing to do. He is just 22 with only 2 seasons of top-flight experience and is playing for a team that has been involved in an almost constant relegation battle.

If he was to sign for a team with much more attacking intent and in a much more secure position than Dijon are, and that has promising underlying numbers in dribbling and creative departments, a dramatic increase in his output is definitely possible.

Chouiar is a creative winger who is dangerous with the ability to beat a man and has shown goal-scoring form in the past - a lot of teams in Ligue 1 and across Europe could have a bargain on their hands if they were to sign him. He could be acquired for around his market value of £8m, especially if Dijon go down.

A move to a more attacking side would hopefully him the platform to develop into the quality player, a player that his underlying numbers show he has the ability to become.

Written by Liam, @liamwlfc.