Rayan Elloumi enjoyed a productive season, recording 11 goals and 6 assists in 18 appearances for Whitecaps FC 2. The Tunisian-Canadian striker saw his strong performances rewarded with a call-up to Tunisia’s U23’s, a debut for the club’s senior squad, and a nomination for MLS NEXT Pro Pathway Player of the Year.
Elloumi’s physical profile is promising and well-rounded. Standing 1.80 m tall, he combines notable strength for his age and size with the mobility required for a modern striker. Elloumi is a robust dueller, willing to use his physicality to commit fully in 50/50 situations and often come out on top. Although he lacks raw explosiveness and top-end speed, he is strong on his feet, turns quickly, and maintains balance at high speed to power past defenders. Elloumi is strong in the air, combining a good leap, upper-body strength, and conviction, which allows him to be competitive in aerial duels, both back to goal against a pressing defender and at set pieces.
On the ball, the most refined aspect of his game is his off-the-ball movement. Elloumi generally gets himself into the right positions at the right moments. He likes to operate on the last shoulder, stretching the defense, but is also eager to drop off with good timing to receive in build-up. In offensive transitions, he looks to run the channels and intelligently pins defenders. Elloumi shows promising poacher instincts in the box: getting in between defenders, creating space to attack the ball with subtle movements, bending or delaying his run to stay onside, and attacking space quickly. His hold-up play, however, is still raw and developing, but there is significant untapped potential. At times, he shows classy lay-offs, but this is mixed with clumsy footwork and overly easy dispossession. Elloumi uses his strong body well to hold off the defender, manipulates the ball well with both feet to keep possession, and spots runners around him, but his first touch remains too inconsistent to be a reliable target man at this stage.
Elloumi not only gets into favorable goal-scoring positions but is also clinical in the box, showing a dynamic range of finishing: tap-ins, lobs, headers, flicks, and composed finishes around the goalkeeper. However, a sometimes loose first touch can hold him back from increasing his goal tally even further. Although he is very decisive and opportunistic in front of goal, his six assists were no coincidence. He is also capable of picking out passes with subtlety, even with his left foot, mostly in situations where he can keep his composure after receiving with back to goal.
Defensively, Elloumi is very aware of his surroundings and positions himself intelligently to cover dangerous areas behind him. He often regulates the press, clearly directing who applies pressure and where. Although he puts in the work and his pressing actions are intelligent, he can be slow to react at times, does not always maintain high intensity through longer pressing actions, and could be more aggressive in his counter-pressing overall.
Overall, Elloumi is a promising prospect. Further technical and physical development, along with improved composure under pressure, will determine whether he can evolve from a poacher into a well-rounded number nine. Next season, he should gain more first-team minutes and adapt to the tempo in a more demanding league, where he will need to confirm his goal-scoring ability.
Target Scouting 