Fayçal Fajr

Fayçal Fajr (Arabic: فيصل فجر‎; born 1 August 1988) is a French-born Moroccan professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Süper Lig club Sivasspor.[2]

Fayçal Fajr
Fajr with Morocco at the 2018 FIFA World Cup
Personal information
Full name Fayçal Fajr
Date of birth (1988-08-01) 1 August 1988
Place of birth Rouen, France
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)[1]
Position(s) Attacking midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Sivasspor
Number 76
Youth career
1994–2000 Sotteville-Lès-Rouen
2000–2003 Le Havre
2003–2005 Rouen
2005–2006 Oissel
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2006–2008 Oissel 20 (4)
2008–2011 Fréjus Saint-Raphaël 91 (12)
2011–2014 Caen 78 (11)
2014–2016 Elche 34 (1)
2015–2016 → Deportivo La Coruña (loan) 38 (5)
2016–2017 Deportivo La Coruña 24 (0)
2017–2018 Getafe 31 (1)
2018–2019 Caen 36 (5)
2019–2020 Getafe 10 (0)
2020– Sivasspor 14 (3)
National team‡
2015– Morocco 39 (3)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 10 January 2021
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 17 November 2020

Career

Early career

Fajr was born in the city of Rouen and began his career with local amateur club Sottevillais Cheminots.[3] In 2000, he joined the youth academy of professional club Le Havre.[3] After three years, Fajr was released after being told he lacked the physical requirements to remain.[4] He, subsequently, returned home to join hometown club Rouen.[3] Fajr spent two years at the club and, in 2005, signed a contract with CMS Oissel. With Oissel, he played in the Championnat de France amateur 2, the fifth division of French football.[3]

After two seasons playing on the senior team of Oissel, in 2008, Fajr moved up one division to sign with Étoile Fréjus Saint-Raphaël, then known as ES Fréjus. In his first season with the club, he appeared in 29 matches scoring four goals. Fréjus finished second in its group, however, due to the Direction Nationale du Contrôle de Gestion (National Directorate of Management Control) (DNCG) imposing sanctions on several clubs in the Championnat National, the club was given a spot in the third division. After playing mainly as a substitute in his inaugural season with the club, Fajr became a starter in the club's first season in National. He appeared in 29 league matches as Fréjus finished mid-table. In his final season with the club, Fajr became the club's primary play-maker. He posted career-highs in appearances (34) and goals (8). Fréjus finished the campaign in sixth place.

Caen
Fayçal Fajr playing for Deportivo de La Coruña.

After a successful campaign with Fréjus, Fajr was linked to several professional clubs, most notably Nice, Dijon, Lens, and Reims.[3][4] On 18 July 2011, it was confirmed that he would be joining Ligue 1 club Caen on a three-year contract.[5] The transfer was completed the following day.[6] Fajr was assigned the number 29 shirt and simultaneously made his professional and club debut on 28 August in a league match against Rennes.[7] Three days later, in a Coupe de la Ligue match against Brest, he scored his first goal for Caen in a 3–2 victory.[8] Caen were relegated to the Ligue 2 in his first season, but he helped them back up two seasons later. In the 2013–14 season, he scored 8 league goals in 35 games and Caen were promoted to the top-flight Ligue 1.

Spain

On 24 June 2014, Fajr passed his medical and completed the move to the La Liga side Elche.[9] He made his debut in the category on 24 August, coming on as a substitute for Ferrán Corominas in a 0–3 away loss against FC Barcelona.

On 6 August 2015 Fajr was loaned to fellow league team Deportivo de La Coruña, for one year.[10] Ahead of the 2016–17 campaign, he signed a permanent contract with the club.

On 20 July 2017, Fajr signed a two-year deal with Getafe CF, still in the first division.[11]

Return to Caen

On 3 August 2018, after spending four years with club Getafe CF from La Liga, Fajr returned to his former club Caen.[12]

Return to Getafe

On 2 August 2019, Fajr returned to his former club Getafe CF.[13]

Sivasspor

On 14 September 2020, Fajr signed a two-year deal with Turkish Süper Lig side Sivasspor.

International career

Despite being born and raised in France, Fajr joined the Royal Moroccan Football Federation. He made his senior debut for the Morocco national football team in a 2018 World Cup qualifying game against Equatorial Guinea in a 1–0 loss.[14]

In May 2018 he was named in Morocco's 23-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.[15] Morocco's national football team played against Iran, Portugal, and Spain in the group stage. During Morocco's match against Spain, Fajr made the corner kick that led to Youssef En-Nesyri's goal with nine minutes remaining.[16][17]

Career statistics

Club
As of 20 May 2017[18]
Club Season League Cup[nb 1] Europe Other[nb 2] Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Fréjus 2008–09 CFA 29410——304
2009–10 30110——311
2010–11 32721——348
Total 911241——9513
Caen 2011–12 Ligue 1 13041——171
2012–13 30342——345
2013–14 35842——3910
Total 7811125——9016
Elche 2014–15 La Liga 34140——381
Deportivo 2015–16 La Liga 38530——415
2016–17 24010——250
Total 62540——665
Getafe 2017–18 La Liga 31120——331
Caen 2018–19 Ligue 1 36540——405
Career total 33235306000036241

International
As of match played 12 July 2019[19]
Morocco
YearAppsGoals
201510
201660
2017122
2018101
201940
Total333

International goals
Scores and results list Morocco's goal tally first.[19]
NoDateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.24 March 2017Stade de Marrakech, Marrakesh, Morocco Burkina Faso1–02–0Friendly
2.1 September 2017Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium, Rabat, Morocco Mali5–06–02018 FIFA World Cup qualification
3.13 October 2018Stade Mohammed V, Casablanca, Morocco Comoros1–01–02019 Africa Cup of Nations qualification

Notes
  1. Includes Coupe de France and Coupe de la Ligue matches.
  2. Includes Trophée des champions, UEFA Supercup, and FIFA Club World Cup matches.

References
  1. "2018 FIFA World Cup Russia – List of Players" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 4 June 2018. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  2. https://www.sivasspor.org.tr/faycal-fajr-demir-grup-sivassporumuzda/
  3. "Fayçal Fajr: "L'EN du Maroc, j'y pense tous les jours"". Maroc Football (in French). 21 October 2011. Archived from the original on 1 December 2011. Retrieved 28 November 2011.
  4. "Fayçal Fajr: "C'est comme dans un rêve"". Sportacaen (in French). 19 July 2011. Retrieved 28 November 2011.
  5. "Fayçal Fajr pour 3 ans à Caen?". Normandie (in French). 18 July 2011. Archived from the original on 26 April 2012. Retrieved 28 November 2011.
  6. "Fayçal Fajr est à Caen". Sportacaen (in French). 19 July 2011. Retrieved 28 November 2011.
  7. "Rennes v. Caen Match Report". Ligue de Football Professionnel (in French). 28 August 2011. Archived from the original on 15 July 2012. Retrieved 28 November 2011.
  8. "Caen v. Brest Match Report". Ligue de Football Professionnel (in French). 31 August 2011. Archived from the original on 16 September 2012. Retrieved 28 November 2011.
  9. "Fayçal Fajr, primer fichaje del Elche para la nueva temporada". Elche CF (in Spanish). 24 June 2014. Archived from the original on 27 June 2014. Retrieved 25 June 2014.
  10. "Fayçal Fajr, nuevo jugador del Deportivo. "Si alguien no conoce al Dépor, no conoce el fútbol"" [Fayçal Fajr, new player of Deportivo. "If anybody does not know Dépor, does not know football"] (in Spanish). Deportivo La Coruña. 6 August 2015. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
  11. "Fayçal Fajr llega al Getafe" [Fayçal Fajr arrives at Getafe] (in Spanish). Getafe CF. 20 July 2017. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
  12. "Fayçal Fajr revient à Caen" (in French). L'Équipe. 3 August 2018.
  13. "Faycal Fajr: Getafe sign Caen midfielder". Goal.com. 2 August 2019.
  14. FIFA.com. "2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™ - Matches - Equatorial Guinea-Morocco - FIFA.com". FIFA.com. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
  15. "Boufal left out of Morocco squad".
  16. "2018 FIFA World Cup- Spain 2 Morocco 2- Match Report! Live Streaming Information, Predicted Teams, World Cup Fixtures, Team News, Kick-off times". beIN SPORTS. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  17. FIFA.com. "2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™ - Matches - Spain - Morocco - FIFA.com". www.fifa.com. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  18. "Fayçal Fajr". Soccerway. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
  19. Fayçal Fajr at National-Football-Teams.com
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