http://chi5aoui17.skyrock.com/

At least Ben Arfa didn’t embarrass your NT coach by pulling a Gonzalo Higuain, who actually used Domenech to further his appeal to big European clubs, and then chose Argentina, which is what the logical outcome was I guess.

Some people interpreted is disrespectful and wanted him to just be more up front about his allegiances. I’m not with that train of thought… He’s a great prospect and I hope he goes far. Just not as far as Chikhaoui does in the long run

Yeah, I think it’s fair to say he’s more french than tunisian.

I don’t see Chikhaoui leaving in the winter. I think he wants a solid year in the Swiss league and I’m sure FC Zurich share that sentiment. His stock will only get higher with time. Especially if his team makes a good run in the UEFA Cup.

It’s true you guys have Ben Arfa but a lot of people from Tunis don’t really identify with the kid. I’ve read on some forums that people were really pissed he didn’t choose Tunisia over France. Frankly I think those thought are out of line. Ben Arfa is more French than Tunisian and picking the team with a more illustrious history makes complete sense, especially since he was formed at Clairefontaine…

Lyon are normally cheap bastards, but they will lay down the money if they think Chikhaoui is the real deal, and it looks like he is. Do you think Chikhaoui would like to play for Lyon? To be honest, Lyon isn’t exactly a favored destination for a lot of players.

It sounds like he’s a well adjusted player who has his head screwed on straight, and while Lyon have no members of the Tunisian NT to offer, there is Hatem Ben Arfa, French born but Tunisian. With Karim Benzema, I think Chikhaoui would make an awesome part of the teen superstar club at Lyon.

Is Chikhaoui looking for a winter or summer move?

The way I understand it, he decided to go to a relatively low profile European league in order to acclimate himself to the continent on his own terms and be under less pressure. It’s not that he’s soft but Massaer and I were talking about this the other day, you know how it is when you get to a club like Marseille… If he had a few bad outings and people underestimated him or started booing him or what not it could have really hurt his confidence and stunted his development in the process. It’s possible he wasn’t thinking this far in depth but it’s how I rationalize his decision.

Anyways, thats the background info. For the past few months the clubs that have been heavily linked with him are Bayer Leverkusen and Ajax and now most recently, your very own Lyon. Leverkusen has the advantage of having one of our internationals in its starting lineup (Karim Haggui in defense) so that could potentially be a a nice selling point. Then I was reading that Ajax is sure to let Huntelaar leave and was looking for a solid replacement. I don’t see Chikhaoui as being able to effectively fill that void since he’s not the out and out striker that the Dutchman is… They might go for Amine Chermiti (a 20 year old tunisian striker who is doing very well right now and will be playing in the Club World Championships next weekend against Pachuca of Mexico). Chermiti is more of a pure striker but Chikha seems more technically adept.

I think that at this point Juventus and Barca are just throwing their name into the mix to indicate that they are following him but i wouldn’t consider them to be in pole position by any means. With their type of money though you never know what will happen… In the tunisian newspapers they seem to be alluding to the fact that Lyon are ahead of everyone because they’ve actually put a sum of money on the table (the 5 million euros you cited in the post). Massaer actually told me that he heard on RTCI that the directors would probably be pissed he played such a good game in a UEFA cup tie because it might raise his price tag. Right now you have a legit chance of landing him but there’s a lot of time from here until the end of the season. It’s very hard to guess how things will turn out. I mean he already made one unexpected decision by going to Switzerland so clearly he’s not just thinking about money or prestige(unlike a lot of players from our country!). All factors indicate that he actually thinks about playing time and a solid career path that will help him achieve his lofty goals.

I struggle to see him in a Barca shirt to be honest. I know he’s good but I think that might be too big of a leap this early. Udinese has been cited as a target also and damn near the entire Bundesliga is dying to get him.

Finally, whether he is ready for a new challenge or not… Well, at the beginning of the season I thought he would need two years in the Swiss league but he’s ahead of the curve a lot of people set for him. Not only is he the unquestionable star of the team and a fan favorite but he’s already been labeled the best player in that entire league by all the pundits. He’s definitely ready for France or the Netherlands at the end of this year. Plus those are two leagues that are well known for nurturing young talent. The spanish league is suited to his style but that might be a few years down the road. Sorry I don’t have real answers just theories! It’s always a guessing game in these matters as you know.

So to summarize, as of right now Lyon has a legitimate chance of nabbing him. Leverkusen are the main competitors as far as I’m concerned. Their fondness for North African talent has increased as they had a strong presence in South Korea during the U17 World Cup this summer where our young boys showed true promise by winning all three of their group matches in astonishing style.

Sorry for my rambling writing style. It’s 3:35 on a friday night and I’ve been drinking a little. Time for me to get some water in my system and pass out!

Abby, if Juventus and Barca are also interested, Lyon probably can’t afford him either. And even if we could afford him, we’d probably lose out to them anyway. Lyon are still small fish in some ways.