Paris FC have confirmed the signing of Patrick Zabi from Stade de Reims, with the transfer completed this summer for a fee reported at around €25 million. The move was agreed back in February, when the two clubs announced that the 19-year-old Ivorian midfielder would join Paris FC once the season finished, and it has now gone through. It is a striking piece of business for a player Reims paid roughly €100,000 for in January 2025, when they picked him up from the youth setup at Ivorian club Ivoire FC.
Paris FC, owned by the Arnault family with Red Bull holding a minority stake, saw off competition from a long list of clubs to get the deal done, including Manchester United, Newcastle United, Bournemouth, Inter Milan, AC Milan, Fiorentina and Galatasaray. Reports at the time of the agreement suggested Jürgen Klopp, who now works as Red Bull's Head of Global Soccer, was closely involved in persuading Zabi to choose the Paris project. For a club still establishing itself back among France's elite, landing a player of this profile ahead of several major European sides is a significant statement of intent.
The appeal is obvious once you look at what Zabi offers. Standing at 1.91m, he plays as a defensive midfielder but is far from a pure destroyer: he combines physical strength and real energy in the tackle with the range to spring attacks with a well-timed forward pass. Scouts who have watched him regularly describe a player who can sit in front of the back four and break up opposition play, then carry the ball forward or thread a pass into space once possession is won. That dual profile — a genuine ball-winner who can also progress the play — is exactly the kind of midfielder promotion-chasing and newly-established top-flight clubs struggle to find.
For Reims, it is a big loss in the middle of the park. Zabi only made his senior debut in February 2025, coming off the bench in a defeat to Nantes, but he quickly became one of the most talked-about young players in Ligue 2. He was a regular part of a Reims side that reached the Coupe de France final in 2024-25, eventually finishing as runners-up, and he was central to their push for promotion this season. Replacing that kind of physical presence and forward-passing threat in central midfield will not be straightforward for the Champagne club.
His numbers this season tell the story of a player still developing rather than the finished article: 21 appearances, two goals and three assists in Ligue 2. Those figures undersell his impact somewhat, since much of his value has come from what he does out of possession — closing down opponents, winning the ball back and keeping Reims' midfield on the front foot — as much as from direct goal contributions. Analysts who have studied his game note that his passing can still be loose and needs refining, which is normal for a teenager who only broke into first-team football 18 months ago.
At Paris FC, he is likely to be used as a pivot in front of the back four, tasked with screening the defence while also offering an outlet to move the ball forward quickly. Given his age and the step up from Ligue 2, a settling-in period would not be a surprise, but the physical tools and passing range are already there. If he adapts at the rate his club and suitors clearly expect, Paris FC will have added a rare kind of midfielder — one who can defend and create — to their squad for a fraction of what several of Europe's biggest clubs were reportedly willing to spend.