Morocco’s Ismael Saibari set for Bayern Munich

Scotland head coach Steve Clarke knew exactly what to expect from Ismael Saibari.

“He’s fast, he’s powerful and he showed against Brazil that he knows how to take chances,” he told reporters ahead of the World Cup Group C meeting between Scotland and Morocco in Boston last week.

A week earlier, Saibari had put the Atlas Lions ahead against Brazil with a brilliant chip over goalkeeper, Alisson. Scotland were warned but it didn’t make any difference as, less than two minutes into the game, Saibari again raced clear of the defense and fired an unstoppable shot into the roof of the net.

A few days later, Saibari was on the scoresheet again when he stroked Achraf Hakimi’scutback into the net against Haiti. It was his 12th goal for Morocco in his 33nd international appearance, and it made him the first African player to score in all three group stage games at a World Cup.

Ismael Saibari: from Eindhoven to Munich

In the round of 32 on Monday night, Saibari will again lead the line for Morocco against a country with which he has an intimate relationship: the Netherlands, where he has scored 42 goals in 142 appearances for PSV Eindhoven since 2020.

Last season, he was voted player of the season in the Dutch top-flight, the Eredivisie, after scoring 15 league goals as PSV won a 27th league title.

He also scored three goals in last season’s Champions League, including a long-range strike against Bayern Munich in January. PSV would go on to lose 1-2 but Saibari had caught the attention of Bayern head coach Vincent Kompany who, according to German newspaper SportBild, immediately made contact the player.

A few months later and the German champions have reportedly already agreed to pay PSV up to €55 million ($62.85 million) for the 25-year-old, beating off interest from the likes of Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester United.

Saibari is set to undergo a medical while still at the World Cup, where is he demonstrating his abilities to a global audience – but who is Saibari the person?

Saibari: three nationalities, five languages

Born in Terrassa, near Barcelona, to Moroccan parents, the young Ismael moved to Belgium aged six as his mum and dad looked to start anew following the 2007 financial crash.

It was in Willebroek, in between Brussels and Antwerp, that the young footballer learned Flemish, French and English in addition to Arabic and Spanish, and obtained Belgian citizenship in addition to that of Morocco and Spain.

The regular changes of scenery have made Saibari an important cultural and linguistic conduit in the dressing rooms of the various clubs he has played for.

“I’ve moved around a lot in my life, so I know how hard it is to adapt to new surroundings,” he told Dutch football magazine Voetbal International. “So, if I can help, I try to. I have the experience and I speak a lot of languages. I often function as an interpreter in meetings because I can speak to the younger players in their mother tongue.”

“He is very sociable – sometimes too sociable,” said PSV head coach Peter Bosz. “Even when he should be relaxing, he’s visiting friends. Because he’s just very friendly.”

Morocco: Saibari’s ‘choice from the heart’

Before joining PSV Eindhoven in 2020, he represented several Belgian clubs at youth level including Anderlecht and Genk. However, despite an approach from former Belgium head coach Roberto Martinez to play for the Diables Rouges (Red Devils) in 2022, there was only ever one choice for Saibari internationally.

“When such a big name in football contacts you, it was incredible,” he told Dutch newspaper Eindhovens Dagsblad. “But I let him know that I was choosing Morocco. When it comes to the national team, I had to make a choice from the heart rather than a sporting decision.”

Saibari made his debut for the Atlas Lions in September 2023 in a friendly against Burkina Faso and scored his first goals a year later in Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers against Gabon and Lesotho.

He started every game of Morocco’s AFCON campaign on home soil earlier this year and scored in the quarter-final win over Cameroon (2-0) – but he played a rather less laudable role in the controversy which engulfed the final against Senegal.

Disciplinary issues

Following a tempestuous evening in Rabat, Saibari was suspended for three games and fined $100,000 for unsporting conduct after trying to prevent a ballboy from giving Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy his towel in the pouring rain.

“When I got home, I saw how bad it looked,” he admitted afterwards when asked by PSV Eindhoven’s club media about the incident. “I immediately sent someone from Senegal to apologize for me. And then when I saw Mendy at the airport, I just apologized to his face. There were a lot of emotions, I’d never experienced so many emotions, so it was just the heat of the moment.”

It wasn’t the first faux-pas in Saibari’s career. As a youth player with Belgian side Anderlecht, he was removed from the first-team squad one day before the start of the 2015-16 season due to being overweight. He called the club’s handling of the matter “disgusting” at the time but later admitted that he had been lazy in his preparations and called the incident one of the biggest disappointments of his career to date.

And last year, he was left out of the Eindhoven squad for a Champions League game away at Arsenal for disciplinary reasons after turning up late for a team meeting. “Everyone is allowed to come late once in a while,” said head coach Bosz. “But this wasn’t the first time. Or even the fifth. I’d had enough.”

Bayern Munich: How will Saibari fit in?

Saibari won’t be able to afford such complacency in Germany, but Bayern coach Kompany – a fellow Belgian polyglot – has proven himself adept at managing young players.

In Munich, Saibari will be an immediate replacement for – and upgrade on – Senegalese back-up striker Nicolas Jackson, who has returned to parent club Chelsea. But even if he won’t necessarily dislodge Harry Kane from the central striking role, Saibari’s flexibility means he will also provide competition for fellow forwards Jamal Musiala, Lennart Karl, Serge Gnabry and Michael Olise.

Until then, though, the focus remains on the Atlas Lions and Monday’s last-32 meeting with the Netherlands in Monterrey, Mexico.

“I think he understands that the priority is currently Morocco,” said national team coach Mohamed Ouahbi – another Belgian-Moroccan who was a youth coach at Anderlecht during Saibari’s time in Brussels, and who knows Kompany “very well.”

“But we’re going to be very proud [of Saibari’s move to Bayern]. We want the best Moroccan players to play for the best clubs.”

Saibari himself said after scoring the only goal of the game against Scotland that it was a “childhood dream to play at the World Cup” with his country, adding: “I think we can go quite far.”

Edited by: Matt Pearson