Profiling PSG & Liverpool target Maghnes Akliouche with Data

A detailed look at the French international's numbers, highlighting his strengths and weaknesses.

Written on 22/07/2026,

Liverpool have made an enquiry with AS Monaco over the possibility of signing French international Maghnes Akliouche. Throughout the summer so far, the player has been a major target for Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), and it has been revealed that the French and European champions have had several bids rejected by Monaco.

We know Liverpool are in the market for wingers, preferably to strengthen both flanks. The need for a right winger is apparent because, following the departure of Mohamed Salah this summer, they have only signed one winger in Victor Muñoz so far, who is a versatile forward rather than a natural right winger.

We are also aware that the Reds were heavily interested in signing RB Leipzig’s Yan Diomandé, who has since stated his intention to join PSG. That deal has not gone through yet, but it seems the 24/25 Premier League champions have walked away from that pursuit.

Now, they have made contact with Monaco to assess whether a deal for Akliouche is a possibility. The Reds have been tracking the player since last summer, to be fair, but it never felt like an active link this summer because PSG were always considered the favourites. That may have changed, judging by the latest reports.

It is also mentioned by the reporters that Akliouche is one of several options Liverpool are considering to strengthen the winger department, particularly on the right-hand side. The reported fee required to secure the Frenchman’s signature is around €50m, which is very achievable in this unusual market.

Why Akliouche? Because statistically speaking, he is one of the players most similar to what Diomande could have offered Liverpool on the right-hand side (of course with some stylistic differences). Here’s a table showing the 15 players most similar to Diomande using the Z-score Euclidean distance model (created by me).

Everyone above Michael Olise is either unrealistic, has already completed a move this summer, or is primarily a left winger. We know Olise falls into the unrealistic category as well. Among the realistic right winger options, Takefusa Kubo and Rayan are marginally more similar to Diomandé than Akliouche.

I do not think Liverpool will sign Rayan based on half a season of football in the Premier League (or any European league, for that matter). Kubo’s name has come and gone, but he appears a little too lightweight to profile as a Premier League winger.

So, Akliouche it is (6ft 1in winger; decent height for a winger), albeit with caveats and stylistic differences that we will explore in the next section of this article.

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We have a bar chart looking at the 24-year-old’s percentile ranks among wingers and attacking of Europe’s top four leagues for the 2025/26 season. This would give us a generic idea of how he is as a player.

• With fewer than two shots per 90 (with or without the team-adjusted numbers), Akliouche is not a high-volume shooter who would regularly cut inside from the right onto his stronger left foot in search of an effort on goal. Having said that, the average quality of the chances he gets is relatively high, both in percentile terms and in raw numbers (0.15 xG per shot). It suggests that he gets into good shooting positions, even if the frequency of those opportunities is not particularly high across a match. He has also underperformed his xG in two of his three full seasons at Monaco.

• When it comes to chance creation, the numbers are relatively strong (a player above the 70th percentile in a metric is generally considered well above average compared to his positional peers). We are focusing on expected assists (0.2 per 90 in raw numbers) and an open play chance creation rate of around 1.3 per 90. He is not a particularly high-volume crosser, though. That is something he would need to add if he were to join Liverpool and play alongside a striker like Alexander Isak, who thrives on early deliveries and crosses into the box.

• The carrying numbers are encouraging, particularly his average progressive carrying distance and the proportion of carries that end in a chance. He is, however, not someone who attempts many shots following a carry.

• He is also not a high-volume dribbler by the standards of a typical right winger. In the 2025/26 season, his dribble attempt rate was just over two per 90, with a 45% success rate. The 2023/24 season saw him attempt a similar number. Only in 2024/25 did he approach 3.8 dribbles per 90, and even that remains below the average volume of dribble attempts for elite wingers.

Looking at both the percentile rankings and the underlying dribbling numbers, the 24-year-old appears to be a player with considerable potential rather than a finished article. His average top speed in the Champions League last season was around 32 km/h, approximately 2.4 km/h slower than someone as explosive as Bradley Barcola. That suggests he is unlikely to consistently stretch opposition defences with runs in behind.

Let’s further dive into his profile using event data visuals, looking at his performances across the 2024/25 and 2025/26 Ligue 1 seasons. This will give us a clearer idea of the type of player he is, while also highlighting the steps he has taken in the 2025/26 season compared to 2024/25.

We start with his touch maps.

More than 80% of the games Akliouche has started for Monaco have come from the right wing, with only a small share of his minutes coming as a number 10. This is why his touch maps across both seasons are quite similar in nature. He starts wide, holds the width, but frequently moves inside as an inverted winger rather than attacking the outside channel and looking to reach the byline.

Next up, we analyse the types of runs he makes before receiving the ball in the final third or beyond, alongside his chance creation, progressive carrying, expected threat (xT) and dribbling profiles. We finish by looking at his shot maps.

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