Why Youcef Gherbi could be Olympique Akbou’s next senior breakthrough

Youcef Gherbi is being identified inside Olympique Akbou as one of the young players best equipped to make the transition to senior football, despite attracting less attention than some of his teenage team-mates.

The midfielder, born in December 2007 in Ain-Ouessara, is ranked 22nd in the #TalentsAlgeriens series, which follows 25 young players to watch in the 2026/27 Ligue 1 algerienne season. The selection is subjective and considers not only ability, but also potential, expected importance to the club and the role the campaign could play in each player’s development.

At Olympique Akbou, attention has naturally focused on other members of the emerging generation, particularly Bitam and Chikhaoui. Gherbi has developed more quietly, but his work-rate has made a strong impression within the club.

Mohamed Mekhazni, Olympique Akbou’s directeur technique sportif and a former Algeria Under-20 manager, knows the group well. He considers Gherbi to be in a slightly different position from some of his colleagues: less exposed publicly, but arguably no less advanced.

Speaking to Africafoot, Mekhazni highlighted the midfielder’s ability to cope with the demands of senior football. He also referred to a statistic recorded by Gherbi during last season with the Under-20 side, underlining the amount of ground the player covers.

That characteristic is central to Gherbi’s game. He is not simply a midfielder who waits for possession before attempting to dictate play. He contributes defensively, wins the ball and supports attacking moves, giving him the profile of a modern box-to-box midfielder rather than a creator concerned only with construction.

Gherbi’s older brother, Mohamed, plays for USMA. The younger sibling has also shown that his influence can extend into the final third. He scored twice in a friendly against Beja at the start of this month, performances which reinforced Mekhazni’s belief that he is capable of stepping up.

Sofiane Benkhelifa offers a complementary assessment. The coach and youth developer has worked with USMA and Olympique Akbou and is now part of the ES Setif staff. He places greater emphasis on Gherbi’s ability to organise play and on the quality of his passing.

Together, those observations suggest a rounded midfielder: capable of covering the ground expected of a relay player, but also able to move closer to the forwards and influence the game with his left foot.

Abdelkader Amrani needed only a few weeks to recognise some of those qualities. The experienced coach arrived at Olympique Akbou this summer after almost 30 years in Algerian dugouts. Having assessed several players developed by the club, he chose to retain five in his professional group. Gherbi was among them.

The teenager is not being portrayed as a finished product. His biggest challenge is physical. Benkhelifa has pointed to the gap between youth football and the senior game, where stronger challenges and greater intensity can expose players who are still developing.

For Gherbi, that area is particularly intriguing. His engine already allows him to repeat efforts and cover significant distances; the next stage is building the strength required to withstand professional contact and compete consistently in physical duels.

Amrani has also recognised the adjustment required by the young players he has brought into the first-team environment. However, he does not want that process to become an immediate demand for selection. His approach is to allow the youngsters to develop without placing the burden of results on them too early.

Mekhazni is similarly confident about Gherbi, Bitam and Chikhaoui’s readiness to begin working with senior players. He believes they are mentally well prepared, while Amrani’s experience provides a favourable setting for their progression.

The next step now belongs to Gherbi. His name may still be less familiar than those of some of his generation, but his profile is already clearly defined: the energy of a relay midfielder, the passing ability and left foot of a creator, and considerable room for physical development.

At 18, there is no need for him to rush. Yet a technical director who already considers him ready for senior football, followed by a coach who reached a positive conclusion after only a short period of observation, suggests that his progress deserves attention.

The engine is already running. The question is how far Youcef Gherbi can go once he begins covering those distances in professional football.

The series also includes a profile of Abdelaziz Kahia.