Established only in 1998 - Dijon FCO are not really a household name in France and they have never been known for producing exceptional youth talents from their academy. But one thing for sure is that they do have excellent scouts and they only do excellent businesses which helped them secure talents like Valentin Rosier and Jules Keita without the spotlight of a big fee and develop them into players worthy of playing in Ligue 1.
Player Profile
One of the talents that they snapped up at a young age was Enzo Loiodice. Born in Paris, November 27th, 2000, Enzo Loiodice started learning his trade at his local club, SC Paris, at the age of 8. He then moved on to FC Gobelins, a youth football academy which is also situated in Paris at the age of 11. At FC Gobelins, Loiodice attracted a number of scouts from the French top-flight teams, including Dijon ( who were still in Ligue 2 at that time but were on the verge of a promotion). Loiodice, who is actually of an Italian origin, finally signed a youth contract with Dijon in 2015. Enzo Loiodice progressed through the ranks of Dijon FCO until he finally made his senior debut at the age of 17 where he came on as a substitute in the dying minutes in a Ligue 1 match against Girondins de Bordeaux in which his team lost 3-1 in the end. The Dijon starlet finally made his full debut three weeks later in a Ligue 1 match against Angers SCO in which his team won 2-1.
Enzo Loiodice certainly left a positive impression after his match against Angers. The versatile midfielder showed remarkable technical skills and was calm and cool as a cucumber throughout the match. The 17-year-old, who just recently turned 18 several days ago, was the man who had the most touches on the ball and he also finished the match with a really high pass accuracy of around 85%.
The young midfielder has so far made 11 appearances out of possible 15 this season which proves that Dijon have been giving the youngster the belief and the game time that he deserves. Loiodice has contributed with one assist to his name, but he needs to be more disciplined in a match as he has so far collected three yellow cards and one second-yellow red card.
Enzo Loiodice has seen a rapid rise of his price after several his sublime form last season which continued into this season and he is even included in L'Equipe's list of 30 most talented youngsters to watch this season, but the 18-year-old is struggling to get himself called up to the youth national side of France due to having to compete with so many other highly-skilled, undoubtedly talented players from France, but his hard work has apparently been paid off lately with him being called to the France U19 national team on September 2018, making 3 appearances, and then another call-up, this time to the France U20 national team a month after his first call-up, where he has so far made only a single appearance for the team.
Style of Play
The Dijon starlet is a very versatile player as he has shown to be able to play anywhere in the centre of the field and as a winger or a wide midfielder either on the right side or on the left. Loiodice is stronger with his right foot but is equally adept with his left foot. When deployed on the wing, he loves to cut inside from either side - utilising his pace, agility, explosiveness, ball control, and vision, the 18-year-old Frenchman could deliver a defence-cutting through pass, an in-swinging cross, or have a go by himself from the edge of the box. Loiodice is not a very confident striker of the ball though as he tends to go for a pass to his teammates instead of taking a shot.Player Strengths
18-year-old Enzo Loiodice stands 1.76m (5ft9) tall, has a lean build, and is right-footed. The up-and-coming French starlet is pacey and very agile. He is also a proficient dribbler - with a close control and good balance due to his low centre of gravity along with exceptional passing and vision, he resembles a bit of a young Eden Hazard and also a bit of a young Marco Verratti.Loiodice also loves to have the ball on his feet. He loves to be the pivot, the centre of the game to which the team build the play around. The Paris-born youngster loves coming deep to get the ball from the defence before distributing it forward
The central midfielder is also known with his mature personality. Able to stay calm and composed even when under pressure - helped with his amazing on the ball ability, Loiodice could often get out of opposition's pressure after receiving the ball.
Player Weaknesses
Loiodice is small and lean and he is gifted with a low centre of gravity, but he absolutely needs to up his physicality. There are times when he lost the possession and lost a duel due to him being outmuscled off the ball far too easily.
Enzo Loiodice also needs to be more disciplined as a player, he needs to stop making reckless challenges and late tackles and start timing his tackles better.
The uprising star from Paris is becoming increasingly noticed by bigger teams from Ligue 1 and from the other European countries. I believe this player has an immense potential in him and that a big move should probably be in his mind if he wants to keep growing and developing. For the time being though, he could probably settle for what he has, as the coach is still giving him some much-needed game time and experience at Stade Gaston Gerard.
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