Hip Hip Hooray! Today Rayane Bounida celebrates his 16th birthday. At that age, never before has a Belgian footballer dribbled together more buzz. At Anderlecht they don’t get a cake: they will soon see Bounida go to Ajax with pain in the heart.
“Is Rayane Bounida the next Lionel Messi?”
“Rayane Bounida – Belgian Prodigy”
“Greatest talent in the world”
Click hunters on Youtube do not exercise caution. Compilation videos by Rayane Bounida have been pumping up the hype surrounding the inimitable dribbler for years. It was also through a video of papa Ben on the video platform that the football player went viral for the first time at the age of 8.
In the following years, it gave Bounida a place in the spotlight, in addition to a contract with Nike. His social media following grew exponentially – to give you an idea: 361,000 on Instagram, more than Anderlecht count.
European top scouts flocked to Neerpede to see the phenomenon in person. Due to his extraordinary technical qualities and insight into the game, Bounida also disappeared in all notebooks, despite his slender stature.
“Rayane is an exceptional talent,” said Jean Kindermans, head of the Purple & White youth in 2020. “I’ve been in the business for 15 years and I’ve seen few of that level.”
At Anderlecht they already realized that the fight for the signature of Bounida’s first professional contract would be tough.
Feather weight of 48 kilos
Today that battle is lost.
Bounida – who turned 16 today – will soon sign a multi-year contract with Ajax Amsterdam. According to insiders, he will be officially introduced on Monday at the Dutch top club.
Anderlecht chairman Wouter Vandenhaute resigned himself to the loss of the purple and white pearl at the end of December, after long unsuccessful negotiations to keep Bounida on board.
“However, I am convinced that it would be much nicer for Rayane and his family, who are embedded in Vilvoorde, to break through with us,” he sighed.
We must not forget that Rayane is still a child.
Coach Vincent Kompany was also asked a question about Bounida on Wednesday, but dribbled around the issue. “Because we must not forget that Rayane is still a child. That I once experienced the same? Yes, but I did not have millions of followers on social media and people did not ask the coach of the A-squad questions about me.”
Certain media claim that the clan Bounida made sky-high wage demands, which Ajax – unlike Anderlecht – was prepared to meet.
Claims that are firmly denied by the player’s entourage. It can also be heard in the Netherlands that Ajax is not in the habit of throwing heavy salaries for teenagers.
All the more so because Bounida still has a lot to prove. Okay, you can see from everything that he has it, but the feather weight of 1.62 meters and 48 kilos still has a lot of steps to take physically. In the national youth selections he is still “only” at the U17.
There are other talents who were allowed to skip steps towards the A-squad faster. An example: Romelu Lukalu was 16 years and 11 days when he made his debut with the big boys.
More than hype?
Does it show that Bounida is nothing more than an internet hype?
Urbain Haesaert, ex-top scout of Anderlecht and now active at Ajax, shakes his head vigorously.
“The people who lost Rayane will now argue that he is not strong enough for the highest level,” said Haesaert. “But you can develop the physical, with individual technical class and game insight that is much more difficult. And Rayane has that in abundance.”
Haesaert is also convinced that Bounida is making a smart choice by choosing Amsterdam. “Guys like Thomas Vermaelen, Tom De Mul and Toby Alderweireld also developed there. And Rayane will certainly take steps even faster with more good players around him. Then the tiki-taka football comes up.”
At Anderlecht they will see future viral films with concern.
