Toulouse winger and Coupe de France champion Zakaria Aboukhlal admits that he turned down a move to Premier League strugglers Everton earlier in his career.
When Aboukhlal moved from the Netherlands to France during the summer of 2021, swapping AZ Alkmaar for Toulouse, he could not have imagined just how well this season would have gone.
Not only was the Dutch-born 23-year-old a major part of the Morocco side who reached the semi-finals of the Qatar World Cup, he also scored his 13th goal of a fabulous campaign during Saturday’s 5-1 thrashing of Nantes in the Coupe de France final.
That was, if you discount a trio of Ligue 2 titles, Toulouse’s first ever major trophy. Aboukhlal, then, is unlikely to be regretting his decision to turn down a relegation-threatened Everton during his time in the PSV Eindhoven academy.
Coupe de France winner Zakaria Aboukhlal turned down Everton
“At that time, I was still too young. I hadn’t played many matches in the Dutch first division yet,” Aboukhlal, who joined AZ instead back in 2019, tells Onze Mondial.
“I was not ready to move to a championship like the Premier League. It’s a hotly contested league with fantastic players. I have confidence in myself, but I am also realistic.
“And I think it would not have been the right choice to join move to such a championship without being ready.”
With 13 goals and five assists during his time at Toulouse, no one could accuse Aboukhlal of not being ‘ready’ to take the next step these days.
Southampton and Leicester City were both linked late last year. And Abouklhah’s reputation has only grown since then. Particularly after scoring a stoppage-time decider during Morocco’s stunning 2-0 victory over Belgium at the 2022 World Cup.
“Everyone knew that I wanted to leave AZ Alkmaar. At that time, Toulouse was the first club to come. It was immediately serious,” Aboukhlal adds.
“I liked the words of the club and their approach towards me. I also appreciated having players in the club who spoke the same language as me, Dutch. My agent agreed with the club quickly and I signed.
“(Ligue 1) is a top-level championship. A notch above the Eredivisie. I think it’s a really good league, a serious league to play in.”
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