Crystal Palace Signs Teenage Defender Taha Mejni from Ittihad Touarga
Crystal Palace have moved again in the youth market, securing one of North Africa’s most intriguing teenage defenders in Taha Mejni from Ittihad Touarga.
The 18-year-old – already a Moroccan league regular and a world champion at youth level – will join Darren Powell’s Under-21 squad, with Palace describing him as “a versatile player capable of playing at centre-back or right-back.”
From Touarga to south London
Mejni’s rise has been quick and uncompromising. He came through the youth ranks at Ittihad Touarga and made his senior debut in June 2025, stepping into an Excellence Cup semi-final and helping his side past Wydad Fez. It was a high-pressure introduction; he stayed there.
By the end of last season, he had 17 senior appearances for the Moroccan club, 15 of them in the most recent campaign and 13 as a starter. Not cameos. Real minutes, real responsibility, in a first division that does not pamper teenagers.
Palace have been tracking that profile: a defender comfortable on the ball, aggressive without it, and able to shift between the right flank and the centre of the back line. Mejni himself “describes himself as a defender with technical qualities who also enjoys the physical side of the game,” the club said in its announcement.
He will now step into Premier League 2, the Premier League International Cup and the EFL Trophy, a demanding mix of domestic and European-style youth competition that Palace increasingly use as a bridge to the senior squad.
World champion at 17
The new signing arrives with a medal cabinet that already turns heads. At 17, Mejni was part of Morocco’s historic Under-20 World Cup triumph in Chile last year, the country’s first title at that level. That squad went through Brazil, Spain, France and Argentina on their way to lifting the trophy – a gauntlet of traditional powers that gave the victory extra weight.
Mejni played his part in that run and has since graduated to Morocco’s Under-23 side, winning two caps in March. One of those came from the start in a 2-2 draw with Ivory Coast, another step in a pathway that has moved relentlessly upwards.
Palace academy director Gary Issott did not hide his admiration for the defender’s trajectory, pointing to “an excellent 25-26 season” in the Moroccan top flight and highlighting how rare it is for a 17-year-old to help his country win a World Cup at any age group.
For Palace, this is exactly the profile they want in their pipeline: hardened early by senior football, tested in international tournaments, and still young enough to mould.
A teenager who already speaks like a pro
If the numbers tell one story, Mejni’s own words add another layer. After signing his contract, he did not hesitate to set the bar high.
“Crystal Palace is one of the biggest clubs in the Premier League and around the world. They have achieved a great deal in recent years, so I am very excited to begin this new adventure with the club,” he said.
There was emotion too in the way he closed the door on his past. On Instagram, Mejni penned a long farewell to Ittihad Touarga, the club that shaped him.
“After 5 wonderful years, the time has come for me to begin a new and important chapter in my life,” he wrote, thanking the club “for its trust in me, for the opportunities it gave me, and for all the memories that helped me grow, both on and off the pitch.”
He reserved special lines for his coaches – for “their advice, their patience and their trust, which helped me grow as a player and as a person” – and for the dressing room, where “some of you became like brothers to me.”
“I leave feeling a great deal of gratitude, pride and beautiful memories,” he added. “Thank you to everyone who believed in me and to those who continue to keep the club's spirit alive every day.”
He signed off with a flourish that underlined how much the club’s colours mean to him: “Thank you for everything, Ittihad Tanger. I will always be proud to have worn these colours. A new page opens, but the story continues. Forever grateful.”
Palace’s next defensive project
Inside the academy, they see a multi-talented defender with the raw tools to fit English football. Issott called him “a multi-talented defender who impressed us with his performances,” and stressed that “Crystal Palace is the right environment for him to continue his development.”
The plan is clear. Mejni will be thrown into a busy schedule with the Under-21s, facing a blend of technical, possession-based sides and the more direct, physical tests that mirror the senior game. Centre-back or right-back, he will be asked to adapt, to compete, to show that the composure he carried in Morocco and on the world stage can survive the tempo of English football.
For now, he arrives as a promising name in a long list of academy recruits. How quickly he turns that promise into a place in the first-team conversation will tell us a lot about both the player and the project that has brought him to south London.
