PSG academy graduates: where are the Titis now, from Zaïre-Emery to Ethan Mbappé?
PSG also develops players who later line up against it. This selection follows thirty-three former youth players across twenty clubs: three are listed in Paris and thirty elsewhere in France. Zaïre-Emery and Mayulu represent one route; Ethan Mbappé, Ikoné, Weah and Nianzou illuminate others. Behind the “Titi” label lies a sporting question: how does a promising youngster earn a place in adult football?
Partial sample assembled on 23 October 2026. Squad sources retain their own cutoffs, linked in the table.
Three in Paris, thirty elsewhere.
Documented clubs in the 23 October 2026 snapshot.
Warren Zaïre-EmeryParis Saint-Germain FC
Senny MayuluParis Saint-Germain FC
Ethan MbappéLille OSC
Jonathan IkonéParis FC
Timothy WeahOlympique de Marseille
Tanguy NianzouLille OSC
Alec GeorgenFC Lorient
Amine HaritOlympique de Marseille
Bandiougou FadigaFC Lorient
Harold VoyerLe Mans FC
Hermann MalongaRC Strasbourg Alsace
Ilyes HousniAS Nancy Lorraine
Kenny NageraRodez AF
Kévin CabralRed Star FC
Lionel MpasiLe Havre AC
Lucas BernadouGrenoble Foot 38Lucas LavalléeAS Saint-Étienne
Lucas MaronnierESTAC Troyes
Mahamadou DiawaraRed Star FC
Naoufel El HannachMontpellier HSCNehemiah FernandezAS Nancy LorraineNoham KamaraOlympique Lyonnais
Odsonne ÉdouardRacing Club de LensQuentin NdjantouParis Saint-Germain FC
Rémy DescampsOlympique LyonnaisSékou DoucouréFC Nantes
Sékou MaraRC Strasbourg AlsaceSimon EbonogLe Havre AC
Steven NzonziUSL Dunkerque
Thierno BaldéAS Nancy Lorraine
Timothée PembéléLe Havre ACVincent SassoLe Havre AC
Yohan DemoncyFC SochauxEach tile represents one person, not a transfer. The controls highlight groups while keeping every player visible.
All 33 destinations are French: this squad-based selection does not cover PSG’s whole international diaspora.
Twenty clubs, different roles to build.
Each person counts once. Select a club to see the players behind its total.
These are not necessarily the first destinations after PSG. Player profiles retain loans and intermediate spells.
The academy years, player by player.
Select a period to inspect the player and the source.
PSG · 2014–2022
Paris Saint-Germain FC · snapshot clubAll 33 periods have both year endpoints. Mayulu retains the 2020 start; the 2024 announcement gives 2018. See the source note. Read the differing sources ↗
Six pathways worth a closer look
Aubervilliers, then a place to earn
The end of youth football can mark an internal promotion.
Open the dossier ↗Senny MayuluOne Titi, several development stages
2020 remains the table’s start year, not a resolution of the discrepancy.
Open the dossier ↗Ethan MbappéThe first contract follows the first appearances
A friendly, an official debut and a professional contract are separate milestones.
Open the dossier ↗Jonathan IkonéMontpellier belongs between Paris and Lille
The intermediate club belongs in the education for adult football.
Open the dossier ↗Timothy WeahA career does not have to keep its first position
Positions and responsibilities can evolve long after youth football.
Open the dossier ↗Tanguy NianzouReturning to France is part of the route
A French destination can follow several years abroad.
Open the dossier ↗Four at Le Havre, three at PSG: resist the shortcut
Le Havre hosts four players in this selection; Nancy and PSG each account for three. That distribution cannot rank academies or settle the argument about Paris’s development policy. It tells us something more tangible: former youth players occupy very different places across professional football. A goalkeeper, defender and midfielder do not encounter identical openings. At PSG, the revealing question concerns the step from identified talent to a lasting role. Thirty-three biographies cannot measure that transition for an entire intake. They give us careers to examine, rather than a verdict to announce.
Zaïre-Emery and Mayulu: earning a place in different ways
Zaïre-Emery reached the first team at Clermont in 2022; Mayulu made his debut in January 2024 before scoring in the May 2025 Champions League final. Squad membership alone cannot explain those rises. Trust needs a practical expression: coming on, starting, then helping the team in different situations. Mayulu’s biography stresses versatility; Zaïre-Emery’s traces stages reached at a very young age. An academy therefore has more to do than cultivate individual ability. It must prepare players to answer a collective need when an opportunity becomes available.
Ethan Mbappé: the friendly, the official debut, the contract
Lille separates three moments in his pathway: a PSG friendly in December 2022, an official debut against Metz in December 2023 and a first professional contract signed at LOSC in July 2024. Merging them would obscure the transition. Appearing with senior players does not mean becoming established or already holding a first professional contract. His move leaves a sporting question open: which environment will provide continuity? His brother’s name cannot answer it for him. This is a midfielder’s pathway towards a suitable next stage, and deserves to be read on those terms.
LOSC is more than a destination
Ikoné had a Montpellier loan before Lille. Weah joined the Dogues after Celtic, then moved to Juventus in 2023. Both shared Lille’s 2021 title, within careers begun elsewhere and continued alongside different coaches and teammates. Lille also recalls Mike Maignan arriving without a senior appearance for Paris: that historical example sits outside our thirty-three entries. These careers make the case for recognising several clubs’ work. An academy supplies tools; the team offering the next responsibility can change what a player is able to do with them.
Nianzou: moving abroad is not an ending
His summer 2020 Bayern move could have become a permanent image: a young Parisian choosing a major European club. The snapshot instead finds him at LOSC after Sevilla, a return recorded by the LFP in July 2026. That sequence is more informative than a simple division between staying and leaving. A career decision creates possibilities; a player then encounters a particular context, competition and different demands. The next chapters need to be observed before choices are pronounced good or bad. A present club cannot deliver the verdict on six years of development.
The Titis had a before-Paris chapter too
Bondy comes before PSG for Ethan Mbappé and Jonathan Ikoné. Aubervilliers precedes Zaïre-Emery’s Paris pathway. Other linked stages come before or after PSG: Nantes, Lille, Clairefontaine and local football schools all appear. Twelve are linked to another institution mapped in our directory. That number cannot measure every earlier contribution; it reminds us that an academy label can conceal shared work. Understanding the Paris talent pool means following successive pitches and coaches, rather than trying to assign each entire career to a single badge.
What this snapshot leaves outside the frame
All thirty-three destinations are French because this selection comes from documented French squads. It does not cover PSG’s whole international diaspora. Youth years are not a player’s entire development period either. For Mayulu, our biography and PSG’s current profile retain 2020, while the indexed 2024 announcement gives 2018. The descriptions may cover different stages; the discrepancy remains visible without a forced resolution. These charts help locate people and chapters. Judging an academy will then require following the opportunities actually provided, beyond recognisable names and destination clubs.
What we counted
33 distinct identities, 33 youth spells and 20 destination clubs. 33 players have all biographical year endpoints filled in. The last count measures field completeness, not agreement between sources.
The selection combines documented Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 squads with selected international careers. It is not a complete intake. No minutes, market values, success rates or regulatory eligibility are inferred. Youth periods and destinations are not a list of direct transfers.
* Senny Mayulu. The retained biography and PSG’s current profile date academy entry to 2020. The 20 May 2024 announcement gives 2018 in its club career summary. These may describe different stages; the discrepancy remains unresolved. The announcement’s old host is unavailable; its text was read in the search index on 27 October 2026. The table retains 2020 without calculating a total development duration.
- PSG · Warren Zaïre-Emery, préformation et équipe première ↗ · publication date not established · checked 2026-10-27
- PSG · Senny Mayulu, biographie actuelle (2020) ↗ · publication date not established · checked 2026-10-27
- PSG · Communiqué du 20 mai 2024 (2018) : texte indexé consulté, ancien hébergement indisponible ↗ · 2024-05-20 · checked 2026-10-27
- LOSC · Ethan Mbappé : match amical, débuts officiels et premier contrat ↗ · 2024-07-04 · checked 2026-10-27
- LOSC · Ikoné, du PSG au prêt à Montpellier puis à Lille ↗ · 2018-07-02 · checked 2026-10-27
- LOSC · Weah : Celtic, titre de 2021 et départ à la Juventus ↗ · 2023-07-01 · checked 2026-10-27
- LOSC · La filière parisienne, contexte historique ↗ · 2024-07-05 · checked 2026-10-27
- Bayern · Nianzou : premier match professionnel et arrivée en 2020 ↗ · publication date not established · checked 2026-10-27
- LFP · Retour de Nianzou en France, juillet 2026 ↗ · 2026-07-23 · checked 2026-10-27
- Wikipedia · Paris Saint-Germain FC · squad revision ↗
Table adapted from Wikipedia contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; revisions and dates retained per player. Club documents are used to verify facts and retain their own rights. Charts describe the published, pinned selection so this study remains auditable.
CC BY-SA 4.0 ↗The numbers, with their context
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