Warren Zaïre-Emery

Warren Zaïre-Emery (born 8 March 2006) is a French professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain and the France national team.

A product of the Paris Saint-Germain Academy, Zaïre-Emery made his professional debut for PSG in August 2022, becoming the club's youngest-ever player. In his debut season, he became the club's youngest-ever goalscorer and the youngest player in UEFA Champions League history to start a knockout phase match, all at the age of 16, before winning his maiden Ligue 1 title. In his second season, he solidified his place as a starter and won a domestic treble.

At youth international level, Zaïre-Emery has represented France from under-16 to under-21 level. In September 2023, he became the youngest captain of the under-21s in thirty years. In November of the same year, Zaïre-Emery scored on his senior debut for France, becoming the country's third-youngest debutant and second-youngest goalscorer.

Early life
Warren Zaïre-Emery was born in Montreuil, growing up in Île-de-France. His father, Franck Emery, was also a footballer, having played with Red Star in Seine-Saint-Denis. His mother is of Martiniquais descent.

Zaïre-Emery started playing at Aubervilliers at the age of four, having to wait a year just to be old enough to take his first license there.

Youth career
Already a standout player in Aubervilliers, Zaïre-Emery was quickly scouted by Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), signing with the club from the capital in 2014. In their youth system, Zaïre-Emery always played in categories above his age, impressing his coaches at all levels. During the 2021–22 season, as he had only turned 15, he was the youngest player of the under-19 squad. Despite his young age, Zaïre-Emery became a key player of the U19s, most notably in December 2021, when he was the standout performer of PSG in the UEFA Youth League: during the last group stage game, helping his team to a 3–2 home win against Club Brugge with a goal and an assist, narrowly qualifying PSG directly to the round of 16. At the age of 15, Zaïre-Emery was called by Mauricio Pochettino to the first team that season. Attracting the attention of several other big European clubs while still yet to sign his first professional contract, he joined Jorge Mendes's agency in March 2022.

2022–23: Debut season and breakthrough
In July 2022, Zaïre-Emery signed his first professional contract with PSG, a three-year deal until 30 June 2025. Under new coach Christophe Galtier, he made his senior debut in a 2–0 friendly win over Quevilly-Rouen, and was included in PSG's preseason tour in Japan, where he was in the starting lineup for a 3–0 win over Urawa Red Diamonds. On 6 August 2022, Zaïre-Emery made his official debut for PSG as a substitute in a 5–0 league win away to Clermont. His debut at the age of 16 years and 151 days made him the youngest player to appear in an official match for the club, a record which was previously held by El Chadaille Bitshiabu. On 25 October, Zaïre-Emery made his UEFA Champions League debut as a substitute in a 7–2 home victory over Maccabi Haifa. This made him the youngest player to appear in the Champions League for PSG. On 7 January 2023, he made his first start in a 3–1 Coupe de France victory away to Châteauroux, becoming the youngest starter in the club's history. He became the club's youngest starter in Ligue 1 in a 1–0 defeat away to Rennes eight days later. On 1 February, Zaïre-Emery scored his first senior goal, coming off the bench to cap off a 3–1 victory against Montpellier; in doing so he became PSG's youngest ever goalscorer, aged 16 years and 330 days. On 14 February, he became the youngest player to start a Champions League knockout game at the age of 16 years and 343 days in a 1–0 loss to Bayern Munich. At the end of the 2022–23 season, Zaïre-Emery won his first Ligue 1 title.

2023–24: Establishment as a key player
On 26 August 2023, Zaïre-Emery recorded his first assist for PSG, a pass for Marco Asensio in a 3–1 win over Lens. It made him the youngest PSG player to record a Ligue 1 assist since Opta began analysing this data in 2006. On 4 October, Zaïre-Emery assisted Lucas Hernandez's header in a 4–1 Champions League defeat away to Newcastle United, making him the youngest French and PSG player to record an assist in the competition. On 11 October, he was named by English newspaper The Guardian as one of the best players born in 2006 worldwide. Two weeks later, he registered two assists in a 3–0 Champions League victory over AC Milan, becoming the youngest player to reach three assists in the competition. Having won the player of the match award on the night, he also became the youngest player to make twenty starts for PSG. On 29 October, Zaïre-Emery scored his first goal of the season, a "rocket" into the top corner from outside the box, in a 3–2 away victory over Brest. In the following game against Montpellier, he scored his first goal at the Parc des Princes in a 3–0 Parisian victory. On 13 December, he scored his first Champions League goal in a 1–1 away draw against Borussia Dortmund, which qualified his club to the knockout stages. He also became the youngest French goalscorer in Champions League history at the age of 17 years and 280 days.

On 27 April 2024, prior to a home match against Le Havre, PSG announced that Zaïre-Emery had extended his contract with the club until 30 June 2029. In the match, he provided an assist for Bradley Barcola's goal, PSG's first in a 3–3 draw. The following day, Zaïre-Emery won his second Ligue 1 title with PSG thanks to Lyon's victory over Monaco. On 13 May, he was awarded the Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year award at the Trophées UNFP du football ceremony. He was also included in the Team of the Year. On 25 May, Zaïre-Emery started in the 2024 Coupe de France final, a 2–1 win for PSG over Lyon.

Youth
In April 2022, he was selected with the France under-17 national team for the UEFA Under-17 Euro. With this 2005 generation, he was the only 2006-born player of the squad. France went on to win the tournament, with Zaïre-Emery scoring two goals.

In September 2023, Zaïre-Emery was called up to the France under-21s by newly-appointed coach Thierry Henry. Henry chose to designate Zaïre-Emery as team captain for the matches against Denmark and Slovenia, making him the youngest captain of Les Espoirs in thirty years.

Senior
On 9 November 2023, Zaïre-Emery received his first call-up to the senior France national team, for UEFA Euro 2024 qualifiers against Gibraltar and Greece. He became the youngest player to be called up for Les Bleus since Maurice Gastiger in 1914, and the third-youngest ever. He made his debut on 18 November against Gibraltar, scoring a goal in an eventual 14–0 win for France, the largest victory in the team's history. His goal made him the second-youngest scorer in France's history, only behind Gastiger. However, in the process of scoring, Zaïre-Emery was on the receiving end of a tackle by Gibraltarian defender Ethan Santos, who was shown a red card after review. Zaïre-Emery, who came off injured, was reported to have suffered a "serious ankle sprain" that was projected to keep him out of action until the end of 2023.

On 16 May 2024, Zaïre-Emery was selected by Didier Deschamps as one of the twenty-five players to represent France at UEFA Euro 2024. His club, Paris Saint-Germain, denied him permission to compete in the 2024 Summer Olympics on home soil, along with his teammate Bradley Barcola.

Style of play
A defensive midfielder with a decent physique and remarkable technical abilities, Zaïre-Emery is both good at winning the ball and launching the plays, providing structure to its team plays, giving balance to the midfield.

Good at reading the game, he is described as a player with a very mature personality on the pitch while still in his teenage years, able to often take his responsibilities but still maintaining a calm and disciplined attitude.

Personal life
On 16 May 2024 at the "Paris for Good" gala event, it was revealed that Zaïre-Emery was in a relationship with PSG goalkeeper Océane Toussaint, the women's recipient of the 2022 Titi d'Or award. They had been previously pictured together at a Louis Vuitton event in January 2024.

International

 * Scores and results list France's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Zaïre-Emery goal.

Honours
Paris Saint-Germain
 * Ligue 1: 2022–23, 2023–24
 * Coupe de France: 2023–24
 * Trophée des Champions: 2023

France U17
 * UEFA European Under-17 Championship: 2022

Individual
 * Titi d'Or: 2022
 * Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year: 2023–24
 * UNFP Ligue 1 Team of the Year: 2023–24
 * IFFHS Men's World Youth (U20) Team: 2023