Rangers scouting: The Moroccan Bosman 'transfer masterstroke' ready-made for SPFL

Towards the end of 2021, I profiled a quartet of North Africa's best domestic-based players, and all four remain excellent options in their own right. However, an individual who just missed out, which is a good indication of the talent playing domestically in Egypt, is Zamalek and Morocco winger Achraf Bencharki.

As alluded to, Bencarhki would provide flair, efficacy, and fun, no doubt becoming a fan favourite if all goes to plan, and if it doesn't, well, Rangers haven't spent a penny on the fee. Hence, any potential damage is inherently limited though I'm confident that won't become a reality. So let's have a look at why this could be a Bosman masterstroke and the first of many forays into MENA as a market for Rangers.

Profile

To my complete surprise, Bencharki stands at just 1.76m though he certainly falls in the same category as Brentford’s Ivan Toney, playing and looking far taller than they actually are; it may be the long legs or the lanky yet solid frame.

Nonetheless, Bencharki’s build is a central tenant to positional versatility. He often plays as a centre-forward, though more often than not, he is seen as an out-and-out left-winger, evidenced by the graphic below. In Zamalek’s two most used formations, the 4-2-3-1 and 4-4-1-1, he plays as the left-winger in the former or off the striker in the latter. Both shapes have been rolled out by Giovanni van Bronckhorst, in and out of possession. If we want to go into even more detail, stylistically, he is an inside forward, anecdotally; he is more effective in and around the half-space and box than the byline and corner flag.

Below is Bencharki's WyScout heatmap from the past calendar year. If we analyse individual clusters, we can retrieve some essential information. That hotspot just before the halfway line indicates he has a tendency to come deep, pick the ball up and progress, something vital for modern wingers and a key skill of our current left-winger, Ryan Kent.

The second hotspot is the largest and expected for any left-sided forward. This hotspot extends from the left half-space, typical winger spaces. Finally, we see a final hotspot in the left-hand corner of the penalty box, suggesting that Bencharki spends extensive time in the box, most definitely a precursor to goals. This is likely supercharged due to his time at centre-forward. However, even when playing out wide, Bencharki indeed spends more time in the box than your "average" winger, supported by his standing in the 95th percentile for touches in the box p90, which will be discussed next.

Below is Bencharki's statistical profile compared to his fellow wingers in Egypt, or at least those who hit the minimum minute requirement. His output is outstanding across the board, with the Zamalek red lighting up the graphic.

READ MORE: 3 Rangers transfer options from Japan as club urged 'not to miss the bus' on J League bargains

Given his style, it should come as no surprise; his goal scoring and creating metrics are truly sensational, and his actual meets his expected output. Bencharki is a volume player who takes advantage of that fact. If he were to arrive at Ibrox, concerns over volume would be non-existent, as if anything/ his time on the ball and shooting opportunities would appreciate. There is genuinely nothing statistically of concern, perhaps he fouls too much and is not overly active out of possession, but these are not necessarily important for a Rangers or, for what it's worth, a Zamalek winger.

Winger Play

I think it's appropriate that we dive into what Benhcarki offers when playing as a winger and as a centre-forward separately, though obviously, all skills are transferable, if I go on about his dribbling in the winger section but seldom mention it when discussing him as a striker, the skill hasn't disappeared. As discussed earlier, Bencharki does most of his work in and around the left half-space, extending back to the halfway line and up to the box, as seen in his pass reception map below. This is fairly normal for wingers, though the height of his hotspot is taller than most, suggesting he is more influential and important than an average team’s winger, playing a role in ball progression, build-up and goalscoring/creating.

Bencharki is quick without being rapid; over a small distance, he can compete and beat most; over longer distances, he is firmly above average but nothing spectacular. Though his immaculate control offsets this concern when he’s moving on the ball, as remarkably, he loses almost no speed. Given the fact we’ve established, he often comes deep and is challenged to beat 3/4/5 defenders, this maintenance of pace is pivotal and effective. His raw speed is perhaps his least impressive on-ball commodity, his close control, feel, and ability to contour and move quickly are all incredible.

READ MORE: Rangers scouting: The free transfer winger with Arjen Robben cut inside who could supercharge in SPFL

One of his favourite moves is rolling the ball to the outside of his body and turning on the jets. This is seen in the example below, where he does so to generate space far from the goal; once he gets closer, he times a stepover to chop to make space for a shot on his preferred right foot. He then passes it into the bottom corner, a finish reminiscent of Morelos vs Aberdeen a few years back.

This practical, almost streamlined series of events is a common, effective, and versatile occurrence, as it doesn't always result in a shot or goal for Bencharki, although you wouldn't complain if it did. Instead of chopping back in, he often continues on the outside, heading towards the byline and crossing the ball in. His crossing is consistently excellent and is the reason why he is on corner duty for club and country. His versatility in pitch, speed, and timing is fantastic, often forcing the opposition and even his teammates to make blind runs and guess.

An example of this is seen below. The first frame is almost a carbon copy of the one above; however, he takes it wide, as mentioned before, crossing it in perfectly to his teammate at the back post. The chipped cross is pitched perfectly, as it allows the ball to beat the two ball-side defenders and gives his teammate an easy goalscoring opportunity.

Though his preference clearly is to be moving with the ball in these areas, he is a decent passer in open-play and is often able to pick holes on the counter, feeding in his teammates. His left foot isn’t great in this respect, so he is naturally limited by angles, though when he is in position to make a pass, he can thread it. This is seen below, here Zamalek is on the counter, and Bencharki finds himself in his favoured left half-space. He has the chance to continue on the ball, but instead, he sees his striker indicating towards the box, he plays him in there, bisecting two defenders. The weight of the pass is appropriate, and such the striker is gifted a 1v1 with the goalkeeper.

Bencharki's skills nor style lend themselves well to playing as a passive creator outside, so don't expect the above to manifest every game. That shouldn't be a problem for Rangers as dynamism and eccentricity are needed in a winger.

As a winger, his skills lend themselves perfectly to what is currently required. He scores goals, takes players on, comes deep to progress, crosses well, can find teammates in goal-scoring positions and more. His relative one-footedness does mean that his efficacy would be limited on the right-wing; the position that urgently needs addressing, though that isn't Bencharki's concern, you don't sign a left-winger/striker and complain when he isn't all that's promised out of position.

As a Centre-Forward

As established, Bencharki is primarily a left-winger and should be signed as one, though if some of you are yet to be convinced, he can comfortably turn out as a member of a strike partnership. As mentioned throughout the winger section, he is a goal scorer and has many of the tools required to succeed centrally. His tendency to roam eliminates him from contention in a single-striker scheme, though it can and is effective when playing off a partner, as are most of his skills. His direct running style is exploited and most effective when given a link-man to play off, think Morelos. We see this below, where Bencharki has initiated a 1-2 with his teammate, who then plays him into a wide crater of space. Bencharki picks the ball up gives the goalkeeper the eyes before placing it bottom left with a trivela finish, effective and aesthetic.

He is an effective but inconsistent penalty box finisher as well, most often aiming for the top corners with head or feet which sees him occasionally blast over. This is seen below where despite the difficult angle, Benhcarki slams the ball cross-body into the top corner beating the well-placed goalkeeper due to sheer velocity.

Bencharki is active and influential in the air despite his relatively average height, placing in the top 90% for aerial duels per 90 in the earlier chart. His movement, either from wide or central, puts him in good stead to manufacture enough space to ensure he makes first contact. The example below shows Bencharki making first contact despite a packed penalty box due to this incredible leap before heading it into the top left corner.

Below is Bencharki’s shot map, plotting his last 75 shots. The goals, which are marked by the colour pink, all come either centrally or left of centre, expected given his position and strong foot. The shot map is an amalgamation of what is expected from a winger and striker, plenty of sub-optimal shots, which is trademark winger, but a heavy cluster of goals deep into the box, typical striker fair. I think this is an appropriate analogy for his playstyle; despite playing most often as a winger, his goalscoring tendencies and instincts are striker-like, allowing him to slip into that role when needed.

Fit, Fee, and Feasibility

Bencharki has previous in Europe, turning out for Lens for a year on loan whilst contracted to Saudi giants Al Hilal. Whether he wants to give it a second go is up to him, though what is certain is that he will not be extending with Zamalek, which was announced in November of last year.

Al Ahly were rumoured to pick up the mercurial winger, but nothing came of it, perhaps dissuaded from crossing the crater-like gap between the two rivals. In terms of money, according to what I could find online, he fits within Rangers' wage structure, as seen in the graphic below. As you would expect, given the lack of a transfer fee, Bencharki and his agent would likely request bumper bonuses which are satisfactory to a certain extent.

My knowledge of his English skills is non-existent, you would assume it's limited given his CV but given he could provide starter-level quality on the left and act as a valuable rotation option upfront, this is a no-brainer move.

His age may concern some, but at 27, even the most aggressive estimates and age curves give him at least two to three years at the top, though his lack of reliance on physical tools should see him age better than most. I would be excited to see Rangers pursue Bencharki, and whilst they're in that part of the world, there are a few more players and agents they could do with contacting.