Amin Younes (born 6 August 1993) is a German professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a winger for Dutch club

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city and a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, pro ...

, on loan from Saudi Arabian club Al-Ettifaq, and the Germany national team. Younes started his youth career at SG Unterrath, before moving to

Borussia Mönchengladbach Borussia Verein für Leibesübungen 1900 e. V. Mönchengladbach, commonly known as Borussia Mönchengladbach (), Mönchengladbach () or Gladbach (; abbreviated as Borussia MG, BMG), is a professional Association football, football club based in ...

's youth side aged 8. In 2011 he made his debut for the reserve team,

Borussia Mönchengladbach II Borussia Mönchengladbach II is a German association football club from the town of Mönchengladbach, North Rhine Westphalia. It is the reserve team of Borussia Mönchengladbach. The team's greatest success has been promotion to the tier four R ...

, before making his debut for the senior team in 2012. After a one-season loan spell at 1. FC Kaiserslautern, Younes moved to Dutch club

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Greek ...

in 2015, with whom he was runner-up at the

2016–17 UEFA Europa League The 2016–17 UEFA Europa League was the 46th season of Europe's secondary club association football, football tournament organised by UEFA, and the eighth season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League. The 2017 UEFA Eu ...

. In 2018 Younes moved to Italian side Napoli on a free transfer. Born in Germany to a German mother, Younes also holds Lebanese citizenship on the basis of having a Lebanese father. He represented Germany at youth level between 2008 and 2015, and the senior team since 2017. Younes was part of the squad that won the

2017 FIFA Confederations Cup The 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup was the 10th and final edition of the FIFA Confederations Cup, a quadrennial international men's football tournament organised by FIFA. It was held in Russia, from 17 June to 2 July 2017, as a prelude to the 20 ...

Club career

Borussia Mönchengladbach

Born in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...

to a former Lebanese footballer and a German mother, Younes played as a youth for SG Unterrath. In 2000, at the age of 8, he joined the youth setup of

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

side

. In 2011, he made his debut for

, the reserve team, playing in the

Regionalliga West The Regionalliga West is a German semi-professional football division administered by the Western German Football Association based in Duisburg. It is one of the five German regional football associations. Being the single flight of the Western ...

. Younes made his senior team debut at the end of the

2011–12 Bundesliga The 2011–12 Bundesliga was the 49th season of the Bundesliga, Germany's premier football league. The season started on 5 August 2011 with the opening match involving defending champions Borussia Dortmund and ended with the last games on 5 May ...

, coming on as a substitute against

Hannover 96 Hannoverscher Sportverein von 1896, commonly referred to as Hannover 96 (), Hannover, HSV or simply 96, is a German professional football club based in the city of Hanover, Lower Saxony. They played in the Bundesliga for a total of 30 years betwe ...

on 1 April 2012.

1. FC Kaiserslautern (loan)

In August 2014, Younes joined 2. Bundesliga club 1. FC Kaiserslautern on a season-long loan.

Ajax

On 16 July 2015, Younes signed a three-year contract for Dutch club

, until 30 June 2018, with an option for an additional year for €2,5 million. After an injury, which kept him out for the start of the championship, he made his debut as a starter against

Groningen Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of the northern part of t ...

(2–0) on 26 September. The following week he scored his first goal for Ajax, against PSV in a 1–2 defeat. Over the weeks, the player found continuity and concluded his first season with eight goals and nine assists in 35 total games. On 20 October 2016, he scored his first goal in a

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...

competition by scoring against

Celta Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta de Vigo or simply Celta, is a Spanish professional football club based in Vigo, Galicia, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football. Nicknamed ''Os Celestes'' (The Sky Blues) ...

(2–2) in the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

. At the end of the season he played in the 2017 UEFA Europa League final lost to

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

. Younes was the player with the most dribbles in the competition.

Napoli

In July 2018 Younes moved to

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

side

Napoli Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

on a free transfer. When Younes moved to Napoli, he requested number 34 shirt in tribute to former Ajax teammate

Abdelhak Nouri Abdelhak "Appie" Nouri (born 2 April 1997) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He operated primarily as an attacking midfielder, but could also be deployed as a winger. A youth product of Eredivisie club Aja ...

, who collapsed and suffered brain damage, ending his career. His league debut came on 8 December 2018, against

Frosinone Frosinone (, local dialect: ) is a town and ''comune'' in Lazio, central Italy, the administrative seat of the province of Frosinone. It is located about south-east of Rome close to the Rome-Naples A1 Motorway. The city is the main city of the Va ...

in a 4–0 win. Younes' first goal for Napoli, and in the Serie A, came on 17 March 2019, in a 4–2 home victory over

Udinese Udinese Calcio, commonly referred to as Udinese, is a professional Italian football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, that currently plays in Serie A. It was founded on 30 November 1896 as a sports club, and on 5 July 1911 as a fo ...

Eintracht Frankfurt

On 3 October 2020,

Eintracht Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The team is currently playing in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the Germa ...

announced the signing of Younes on a two-year loan from Napoli with an option to buy. On 18 January 2022, the loan was terminated early by consent from Younes, Eintracht and Napoli.

Al-Ettifaq

On 23 January 2022, Younes signed a contract with Al-Ettifaq in Saudi Arabia until 2024.

Utrecht

On 31 August 2022, Younes joined

in the Netherlands on loan for the 2022–23 season.

International career

Eligible to also represent

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

through his father,

Joachim Löw Joachim Löw (born 3 February 1960) is a German football coach and former player. He was the manager of the Germany national team from 2006 until 2021. During his tenure as manager, he led Germany to victory at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil ...

called Younes up to the German national team for the first time on 17 May 2017, as part of the squad for the

. His senior debut came on 6 June 2017, coming on as a substitute in a 1–1 draw with

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

. Younes scored his first goal for the national team in a 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier against

San Marino San Marino (, ), officially the Republic of San Marino ( it, Repubblica di San Marino; ), also known as the Most Serene Republic of San Marino ( it, Serenissima Repubblica di San Marino, links=no), is the fifth-smallest country in the world an ...

on 10 June 2017. On 29 June 2017, he scored his second goal in the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup

semi-final A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

game against

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, which Germany won 4–1. Germany were crowned champions after beating

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

1–0 in the final.

Personal life

Younes was born in Germany to a Lebanese father from

Tripoli Tripoli or Tripolis may refer to: Cities and other geographic units Greece *Tripoli, Greece, the capital of Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in ...

, Zoulfikar – who also played football, and a German mother, Astrid. Younes has an older brother named Phillip, who plays amateur football, and a younger brother named Carim. During the summer, Younes usually visits his family from his father's side in Lebanon. He is a practicing

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

Style of play

A technical

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

, Younes' main characteristics are his

dribbling In sports, dribbling is maneuvering a ball by one player while moving in a given direction, avoiding defenders' attempts to intercept the ball. A successful dribble will bring the ball past defenders legally and create opportunities to score. A ...

, pace, and vision of play.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Germany's goal tally first.''

Honours

Ajax *

runner-up: 2016–17 Jong Ajax *

Eerste Divisie The Eerste Divisie (, en, First Division) is the second-highest tier of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie and with the third-level Tweede Divisie via promotion/relegation systems. It is also known as the ...

: 2017–18 Napoli *

Coppa Italia The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since. History The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity of ...

: 2019–20 Germany *

FIFA Confederations Cup The FIFA Confederations Cup was an international association football tournament for men's national teams, held every four years by FIFA. It was contested by the holders of each of the six continental championships ( AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBOL, ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

Individual *

Squad of the Season: 2016–17

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Younes, Amin 1993 births Living people Footballers from Düsseldorf German footballers Germany youth international footballers Germany under-21 international footballers Germany international footballers Association football midfielders Borussia Mönchengladbach players Borussia Mönchengladbach II players 1. FC Kaiserslautern players 1. FC Kaiserslautern II players AFC Ajax players Jong Ajax players S.S.C. Napoli players Eintracht Frankfurt players Ettifaq FC players FC Utrecht players Regionalliga players Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players Eerste Divisie players Eredivisie players Serie A players Saudi Professional League players 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup players FIFA Confederations Cup-winning players German expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Italy Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands Expatriate footballers in Saudi Arabia German expatriate sportspeople in Italy German expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands German expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia German people of Lebanese descent Lebanese people of German descent German Muslims Lebanese Muslims