Eljif Elmas ( mk, Елиф Елмас; born 24 September 1999) is a Macedonian 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 ...
who plays as a
midfielder
A midfielder is an outfield position in association football.
Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...
for club
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 ...
and the
North Macedonia national team.
Club career
Early career
Elmas started his career at
FK Rabotnički
FK Rabotnichki ( mk, ФК Работнички) or more commonly Rabotnički (old transliteration) and Rabotnicki is a football club that plays at the Toshe Proeski Arena in Skopje, North Macedonia. They currently compete in the Macedonian First ...
in his native Macedonia. After a stand-out season in which he scored 6 league goals and lead Rabotnički to a third-place finish in the
Macedonian First Football League
The Macedonian First Football League ( mk, Прва македонска фудбалска лига, ''Prva Мakedonska Fudbalska Liga''), also called Macedonian First League, 1. MFL, and Prva Liga, is the highest professional football competitio ...
in
2016–17, he joined Turkish giants
Fenerbahçe on a deal until 2022, with Fenerbahçe paying the former €300,000 for his services.
The attacking midfielder went on to score four goals in over 40 appearances for the Yellow Canaries in all competitions before moving to Italy in July 2019.
Napoli
On 24 July 2019,
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
S.S.C. Napoli
Società Sportiva Calcio Napoli, commonly referred to as Napoli (), is an Football in Italy, Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in the city of Naples ( it, Napoli, nap, Napule), Camp ...
announced the signing of Elmas from
Fenerbahçe. The deal was worth a reported €16 million, which could rise to €19 million in total with bonuses – including a €1.5 million sell-on fee clause.
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.
Elmas scored his first Napoli goal on 3 February 2020 to help the club to a 4–2 victory over
Sampdoria
Unione Calcio Sampdoria, commonly referred to as Sampdoria (), is an Italian professional football club based in Genoa.
The club was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the 1890s, ...
, and secure their third win in a row in all competitions.
On 19 December 2021, Elmas scored the winner for Napoli in a narrow away win against
AC Milan
Associazione Calcio Milan (), commonly referred to as AC Milan or simply Milan, is a professional football club in Milan, Italy, founded in 1899. The club has spent its entire history, with the exception of the 1980–81 and 1982–83 seaso ...
, taking over second place in Serie A.
International career
Elmas was born in Macedonia to a family of
Turkish descent. In July 2017 it was reported that the then coach of the
Turkey national football team
The Turkey national football team ( tr, Türkiye Millî Futbol Takımı) represents Turkey in men's international Association football, football matches. The team is controlled by the Turkish Football Federation ( tr, Türkiye Futbol Federasyonu ...
,
Fatih Terim
Fatih Terim (born 4 September 1953) is a Turkish association football manager and former player. He is the former manager of Galatasaray, a position he previously held four times.
Terim has managed several clubs in Italy (Milan and Fiorentina) ...
, had tried to call him up, but Elmas decided to represent his birth country.
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
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
by coming in at halftime as a substitute for
Ostoja Stjepanović.
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-player squad.
On 31 March 2021, he scored the winning goal for Macedonia in a 2–1 away win over
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
during the
2022 FIFA World Cup qualification.
On 14 November 2021, Elmas scored a brace in a 3–1 win against Iceland, and helped the team secure a runners-up spot in
Group J, and a World Cup play-off.
Career statistics
Club
International
:''Scores and results list North Macedonia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Elmas goal''.
Honours
Rabotnički
*
Macedonian Football Cup
The Cup of Macedonia ( mk, Куп на Македонија, ''Kup na Makedonija'') is the top knockout tournament and the second most important football competition in Macedonia after the Macedonian First League championship. The cup was establ ...
runner-up:
2015–16
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
Individual
*
Macedonian Footballer of the Year
Macedonian Footballer of the Year an annual title awarded to the best Football in North Macedonia, football player of the year in North Macedonia.
Men's
;Best player (domestic)
*2004: Aleksandar Vasoski
*2006: Artim Položani
*2011: Ferhan Hasani
...
:
2019
File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
References
External links
Profile at Macedonian Football
sport.de*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elmas, Eljif
1999 births
Living people
Footballers from Skopje
Macedonian people of Turkish descent
Association football midfielders
Macedonian footballers
North Macedonia youth international footballers
North Macedonia under-21 international footballers
North Macedonia international footballers
FK Rabotnički players
Fenerbahçe S.K. footballers
S.S.C. Napoli players
Macedonian First Football League players
Süper Lig players
Serie A players
UEFA Euro 2020 players
Macedonian expatriate footballers
Expatriate footballers in Turkey
Macedonian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey
Expatriate footballers in Italy
Macedonian expatriate sportspeople in Italy