Elif Elmas
Elif Elmas (Macedonian: Елиф Елмас; born 24 September 1999) is a Macedonian professional footballer who plays for Serie A club S.S.C. Napoli and the North Macedonia national team as a midfielder.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name |
Elif Elmas Елиф Елмас | ||
| Date of birth | 24 September 1999 | ||
| Place of birth | Skopje, Macedonia | ||
| Height | 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
| Club information | |||
Current team | Napoli | ||
| Number | 7 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| –2015 | Rabotnički | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2015–2017 | Rabotnički | 44 | (7) |
| 2017–2019 | Fenerbahçe | 34 | (4) |
| 2019– | Napoli | 43 | (3) |
| National team‡ | |||
| Macedonia U17 | 2 | (0) | |
| 2015–2018 | Macedonia U19 | 13 | (2) |
| 2016– | Macedonia U21 | 9 | (1) |
| 2017– | North Macedonia | 22 | (4) |
|
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 8 February 2021 (UTC). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 19 November 2020 | |||
Club career
Early career
Elmas started his career at FK Rabotnički in his native Macedonia. After a stand-out season in which he scored 6 leagues goals and lead Rabotnički to a third place finish in the Macedonian First Football League in 2016–17, he joined Turkish giants Fenerbahçe on a deal until 2022, with Fenerbahçe paying the former €300,000 for his services.[1] The attacking midfielder went onto score four goals in over 40 appearances for the Yellow Canaries in all competitions before moving to Italy in July 2019.[1]
Napoli
On 24 July 2019, Serie A side S.S.C. Napoli announced the signing of Elmas from Fenerbahçe.[2] The deal was worth a reported €16m, which could rise to €19m in total with bonuses – including a €1.5m sell-on fee clause.[1] He was disciplined by his new club after speaking to reporters while away on international duty in November 2019 for breaching a club media blackout.[3]
Elmas scored his first Napoli goal on 3 February 2020 to help the club to a 4–2 victory over Sampdoria, and secure their third win in a row in all competitions.[4]
International career
Elmas was born in Macedonia to a family of Turkish descent. In July 2017 it was reported the coach of the Turkey national football team, Fatih Terim, had tried to call him up, but Elmas decided to represent his birth country.[5]
On 11 June 2017, at the age of 17, Elmas made his debut for the Macedonia national team in a FIFA World Cup qualifier against Spain by coming in at halftime as a substitute for Ostoja Stjepanović.[6]
Elmas was also included in the Macedonia U21 squad for the 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship in Poland, and he was in fact the youngest one in the 23 players squad.[7]
Career statistics
Club
- As of match played 31 January 2021[8]
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Europe | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Rabotnički | 2015–16 | Macedonian First Football League | 11 | 1 | – | – | – | 11 | 1 | |||
| 2016–17 | 33 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | – | 35 | 7 | |||
| Total | 44 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | – | 46 | 8 | |||
| Fenerbahçe | 2017–18 | Süper Lig | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | – | 7 | 0 | ||
| 2018–19 | 29 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 0 | – | 40 | 4 | |||
| Total | 34 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 9 | 0 | – | 47 | 4 | |||
| Napoli | 2019–20 | Serie A | 26 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | – | 36 | 1 | |
| 2020–21 | 16 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 3 | ||
| Total | 42 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 58 | 4 | ||
| Career total | 120 | 14 | 11 | 1 | 20 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 151 | 16 | ||
International goals
- As of match played 10 October 2019. North Macedonia score listed first, score column indicates score after each Elmas goal.
| No. | Date | Venue | Cap | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 21 March 2019 | Toše Proeski Arena, Skopje, North Macedonia | 9 |  Latvia | 2–0 | 3–1 | UEFA Euro 2020 qualification |
| 2 | 3–1 | ||||||
| 3 | 10 October 2019 | 15 |  Slovenia | 1–0 | 2–1 | ||
| 4 | 2–0 |
Honours
Individual
References
- "Fenerbahce Confirm €16m Elif Elmas Transfer To Napoli, Fee Could Reach €19m – Financial Details Revealed". Turkish Football. 23 July 2019. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
- "Napoli, ufficializzato l'acquisto di Elmas a titolo definitivo". S.S.C. Napoli (in Italian). 24 July 2019. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
- "Napoli ready to punish Elmas for speaking to the media". Goal. 16 November 2019. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
- "Demme and Elmas help resurgent Napoli beat Sampdoria". France24. 3 February 2020. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
- Sporx (17 July 2017). "Eljif Elmas kimdir? Eljif Elmas, Türkiye Milli Takımı'nda oynayabiliyor mu?".
- FIFA.com. "2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™ - Matches - FYR Macedonia-Spain - FIFA.com". FIFA.com.
- "Благоја Милевски ги избра седуммината од генерацијата 1996/97 за ЕП во Полска - ФФМ - Фудбалска Федерација на Македонија".
- "Elif Elmas". Soccerway. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
- "Coppa: Napoli beat Juventus on penalties". Football Italia. 17 June 2020.
External links
- Profile at Macedonian Football (in English)
- sport.de
- Elif Elmas at Soccerway