Meet Meite: Five facts about France’s latest midfield prodigy interesting Liverpool and Everton

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The defensive midfielder is reportedly at the centre of a Merseyside tug-of-war and with good reason.

Thanks to the rise of dubstep-soundtracked skills vids and the crystal ball of Football Manager, it seems like we know the favoured boot, celebration and TV show of each and every talented youngster.

Therefore, the Sun’s reports that Merseyside rivals Liverpool and Everton are scrapping over £6 million-rated Soualiho Meite came somewhat out of the blue. The 22-year-old is certainly a new name for the gossip columns after slipping under the radar so far in his promising career.

So we’ll do the leg work for you. Here are five facts you need to know about France’s latest midfield prodigy.

1) There’s competition. According to The Mirror, West Ham, Borussia Dortmund and Schalke are also following Meite’s every move, with the Bundesliga increasingly renowned for its ability to nurture young talent. Just this summer, Dortmund replaced the established brilliance of Ilkay Gundogan, Mats Hummels and Henrikh Mkhitaryan with unpolished potential in the shape of Ousmane Dembele (below), Mikel Merino and Emre Mor.

2) Meite featured in France’s under-17 World Cup squad in 2011 alongside Kurt Zouma (below), Aymeric Laporte and Utrecht’s in-demand striker Sebastien Haller. The vast majority of the squad have failed to fulfil their potential, however, with Meite taking five years to earn Europe-wide attention.

3) The 22-year-old is spending the season on loan at Belgian side Zulte Waregam after failing to make a breakthrough at Lille, starting all nine league games to help the Essevee to the top of the table.

4) Lille were so enamoured by the talented midfielder’s performances for Auxerre that they splashed out £1.3 million on an 18-year-old Meite in 2013, according to The Sun.

5) Meite is the prototype of a modern box-to-box midfielder, combining raw power and athleticism with impressive distribution and technical skills. Therefore, he may well have the skill-set to succeed in the Premier League, especially under Jurgen Klopp and Ronald Koeman (below).