The teenage Moroccan played 75 minutes of the 2-0 win over Porto and gave an impressive, assured performance during his time on the pitch.
“He’s very good,” smiled Maresca.
“Against Coventry he lost two balls and after he lost them, he was in our box, calm.
“Any player would panic but this shows how good he is. He’s just 18. You expect Erling, Ruben, Mateo that they can manage these games, but he was top.
“You never expect that. Congratulations to Ayyoub and this is the reason he’s here with us.
“The players are happy when a big player arrives, they can see how good he is.
“He speaks French, English, and Spanish perfectly.
“He’s different in terms of empathy, how mature he is and this is why the club made the effort to bring him here with us.”
Watch Maresca’s full press conference by playing the video above.
