Ibrahim Maza has started every Bundesliga game for Bayer Leverkusen this season, won more duels than anyone in the league and been named among the nominees for October’s Player of the Month, and Arsenal are among the clubs watching.
The 20-year-old Algeria international has been linked with Arsenal and Spurs as a £60m target, while Paris Saint-Germain have spoken to his camp. When he was asked about the PSG interest this week, he named the Gunners alongside Real Madrid and Barcelona as one of the biggest clubs in the world, which we covered in our piece on Maza’s comments about Europe’s elite.
So who is he, how does he play, and would he fit at the Emirates? Here is our Ibrahim Maza scouting report.
Who is Ibrahim Maza?
Maza was born in Berlin on 24 November 2005, so he turns 21 later this month. He is an attacking midfielder who wears the No. 30 for Bayer Leverkusen, stands 1.80m and is under contract until 30 June 2030.
He is of Algerian and Vietnamese descent and holds German and Algerian passports. He played for Germany at under-18, under-19 and under-20 level before switching to Algeria, where he made his debut in October 2024. He has 24 caps and three goals, two of them at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, and he started all four of Algeria’s games at the 2026 World Cup. In Algeria they call him “Mazadona”.
Ibrahim Maza youth career and background
Maza started at Reinickendorfer Füchse and joined Hertha BSC’s academy in 2018. He signed his first professional contract in April 2023 and made his debut three days later, off the bench in a 2-0 defeat to Bayern Munich. A month later he scored his first senior goal, the equaliser in a 2-1 win at Wolfsburg.
He spent the next two seasons in the second tier with Hertha, finishing with nine goals in 51 games for the club. Leverkusen announced his signing in May 2025 in a deal reported at €12m, and he was their first new arrival for 2025/26. Managing director of sport Simon Rolfes said at the time: “He has excellent technical skills, is strong at dribbling and assertive, and has an eye for his teammates, who he knows how to use brilliantly.”
His first season at the BayArena was a bumpy one. Leverkusen had lost Xabi Alonso and a host of stars, signed more than 15 players and then saw Erik ten Hag leave after three competitive games. Maza was in and out of the side early on, but he scored twice in a 6-0 win over Heidenheim, set up a goal in a 2-0 Champions League win at Manchester City and then started each of the last 14 Bundesliga games under Kasper Hjulmand. He made the ten-man shortlist for the Kopa Trophy, and Lionel Messi gave him a vote.
Ibrahim Maza style of play
Maza is Leverkusen’s creative hub. He plays as an attacking midfielder and has often linked up on the left with left-back Miguel Gutiérrez under head coach Carles Martínez. “He understood that he and Miguel had to be connected on the left, and they both created good things,” Martínez said after a 4-0 win over Union Berlin in September, when Maza was named man of the match and scored the fourth goal by skipping past two challenges.
The comparison everyone in Germany makes is Florian Wirtz, and Maza is happy with it. “It’s great that, as most people say, I have some of the same qualities as Flo Wirtz,” he said.
Strengths
- Carrying the ball: 25 completed dribbles in the Bundesliga this season, the most in the Leverkusen squad.
- Making things happen: only Harry Kane and Michael Olise have been directly involved in more shots in the league than his 43.
- Work without the ball: he covers 11.7km a game and has won 111 duels, the most in the Bundesliga. Martínez praised him for contributing “both offensively and defensively”.
- Durability: he has started all eight league games this season, after starting the final 14 of last season.
Weaknesses
- Goals: nine goals in 56 games for Leverkusen works out at one every 430 minutes, which is modest for a player in his position.
- Consistency: he was in and out of the side in the first half of last season, although the chaos around the club had a lot to do with that.
- Bookings: six yellow cards for Leverkusen so far, the price of the duels he gets into.
Ibrahim Maza stats this season
| Competition (2026/27) | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|
| Bundesliga | 8 | 3 |
| DFB-Pokal | 2 | 0 |
| Europa League | 2 | 1 |
| Total | 12 | 4 |
Figures up to 31 October 2026. He also has two Bundesliga assists, and three goals already matches his league total from the whole of last season. For Leverkusen overall he has nine goals and nine assists in 56 games, starting 76% of them.
Ibrahim Maza potential and fit at Arsenal
This is our view. Maza looks like a player who could play the role Arsenal ask of their No. 10s and left-sided creators: carry the ball through the lines, combine with an overlapping full-back and then press like a midfielder when the ball is lost. That last part matters most under Mikel Arteta, and the duel numbers say he already does it at a high level.
The question is the end product. Arsenal’s attackers are judged on goals and assists, and Maza’s return, while improving, is not yet at the level of a £60m player. He also turns 21 this month and has only one full top-flight season behind him. With PSG already in contact, and Leverkusen under no pressure to sell with him tied down until 2030, a January move looks unlikely, as we said when the Arsenal and Spurs interest first emerged.
Is Ibrahim Maza worth £60m to Arsenal?
Not yet, but he might be by the summer. If he keeps this up for the rest of the season, the fee will look sensible, and Arsenal would be signing a player who already does the hard yards Arteta demands. For now, Sunday’s Rhine derby at Cologne and the Player of the Month vote, which runs until 8 November, are the next chances for him to make his case.
