Mahir Mahir oğlu Emreli (previously Mahir Anar oğlu Mədətov, born on 1 July 1997) is an Azerbaijani

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 striker for

Konyaspor Konyaspor Kulübü (, Konya Sports Club) is a Turkish professional football club based in Konya. They are better known as Konyaspor. In 1922 Konyaspor were founded with the name Konya Gençlerbirliği and have played at their current home stadium ...

and the Azerbaijan national team. Besides Konyaspor, he has played for Baku, Qarabağ, Legia Warsaw and

Dinamo Zagreb Građanski nogometni klub Dinamo Zagreb ( en, Dinamo Zagreb Citizens' Football Club, link=yes, italics=yes), commonly referred to as GNK Dinamo Zagreb or simply Dinamo Zagreb (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Zagreb. Dinamo ...

Club career

Emreli made his professional debut in the Azerbaijan Premier League for

FC Baku FC Baku ( az, "Bakı" Futbol Klubu) is an Azerbaijani football club based in Baku that has been an amateur club since 2016. Prior to that, Baku played 18 seasons in the Azerbaijan Premier League, winning the championship twice and earning the Na ...

on 27 September 2014 in a game against Araz-Naxçıvan.

Qarabağ

On 16 July 2015, Emreli signed a three-year contract with Qarabağ FK. On 23 August 2015, Mahir made his debut and scored his first goal for Qarabağ in a 2–0 away victory against

Shuvalan Şüvəlan is a settlement and municipality in Baku, Azerbaijan. It has a population of 14,992. The population origin comes mostly from a settlement of Qala, Azerbaijan. History According to the old generation, an ancient times people i ...

. Emreli made his European debut in 2016 against Luxembourgish

F91 Dudelange F91 Dudelange (; lb, F91 Diddeleng, italic=no, ) is a Luxembourger professional football club based in Dudelange which plays in the Luxembourg National Division. It was formed in 1991 as a merger between three teams in the town: Alliance Dud ...

in the second qualification round of the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

which ended 2–0 for Qarabağ. On 15 September 2016, Emreli made his debut for UEFA Europa League group stage game against

FC Slovan Liberec FC Slovan Liberec (), commonly referred to as Slovan Liberec or simply Slovan, is a Czech football club based in the city of Liberec. The club is one of the most successful in the Czech Republic, having won three league titles and the domestic ...

. He scored his first European goal in a 1–0 home victory against Danish

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

in the play-off round of the 2017-18 UEFA Champions League. Emreli made his debut for UEFA Champions League group stage game against

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

in Stamford Bridge on 12 September 2017. Mahir made five appearances in the UEFA Champions League group stage. On 18 August 2020, Emreli, scoring against FK Sileks at the first qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League, celebrated his goal with a

salute A salute is usually a formal hand gesture or other action used to display respect in military situations. Salutes are primarily associated with the military and law enforcement, but many civilian organizations, such as Girl Guides, Boy Sco ...

to the Azerbaijani soldiers serving in the frontline during the border clashes with

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ' ...

Legia Warsaw

On 8 June 2021, Legia Warsaw announced the signing of Emreli on a contract until 30 June 2024. On 17 June 2021, Emreli made his debut and scored his first goal for Legia Warsaw in friendly a 5–0 victory against SK Bischofshofen. Mahir scored his first officials goals for Legia in a

first qualifying round match against

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

champions Bodø/Glimt on 7 July 2021. On 26 August 2021, during

play-off match The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

of the

2021–22 UEFA Europa League The 2021–22 UEFA Europa League was the 51st season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 13th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League. Eintracht Frankfurt defeated Rangers ...

against

Slavia Prague Sportovní klub Slavia Praha – fotbal (Sports Club Slavia Prague – Football, ), commonly known as Slavia Praha or Slavia Prague, is a Czech professional football club in Prague. Founded in 1892, they are the second most successful club in ...

, following an unsuccessful 0–1 first half, Emreli scored two goals and secured qualification of Legia Warszawa to the

group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concen ...

of the tournament. He set a unique record by scoring in all the tournaments he participated in. In December 2021, Mahir Emreli was one of the victims of an attack by hooligans on a bus returning after the

Ekstraklasa Poland Ekstraklasa (), meaning "Extra Class" in Polish, named PKO Ekstraklasa since the 2019–20 season due to its sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is the top Polish professional league for men's association football teams. Contested by 18 ...

match against

Wisła Płock Wisła Płock Spółka Akcyjna (''Wisła Płock S.A.''), commonly referred to as Wisła Płock (), is a Polish professional football club, based in Płock, Masovian Voivodeship, which plays in the Ekstraklasa, the top tier of the national fo ...

. After this incident, Emreli decided not to play for Legia. On 2 February 2022, he terminated the contract by mutual agreement.

Dinamo Zagreb

Hours after leaving Legia, Emreli was announced as the new player of

in the Croatian First Football League. Legia owed Dinamo one million euros because they bought Lirim Kastrati from them in September 2021 for 1.2 million euros, but by December 2021 Dinamo had received only 200,000 euros. Dinamo decided to drop Legia's debt on the condition that Emreli would leave Legia for free and sign for Dinamo. On 24 August 2022, Emreli played in the

against

FK Bodø/Glimt Fotballklubben Bodø/Glimt () is a Norwegian professional football club from the town of Bodø that currently plays in Eliteserien, the Norwegian top division. The club was founded in 1916 and is frequently referred to by its original club n ...

with Dinamo Zagreb winning 4–1 and ensuring a place in the 2022–23 UEFA Champions League group stage.

Loan to Konyaspor

On 14 February 2023, Emreli was loaned to

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), officially known as Spor Toto Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional league for association football clubs. It is the top-flight of the Turkish football league system and is run by the ...

club

until the end of the 2022–23 season with an option of a permanent transfer at the end of the season.

International career

Youth

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of t ...

won the

Islamic Solidarity Games The Islamic Solidarity Games ( ar, ألعاب التضامن الإسلامي) is a multinational, multi-sport event. The Games involve the elite athletes of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation who compete in a variety of sports. The Solidari ...

. He was selected by Yashar Vahabzade for his

U-23 squad, appearing in five games and scoring two goal in the final to help defeat

Oman Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of ...

Senior

Emreli made his

debut on 9 March 2017 against

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it ...

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

. He scored his first goal for

on 29 May 2018, in a friendly match against

Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan,, pronounced or the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south, and the People's Republic of China to the ea ...

Sponsorship

In 2018, Emreli signed a sponsorship deal with American sportswear and equipment supplier,

Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine give ...

Personal life

In May 2019, Mahir changed his surname from Mədətov to Emreli, taking maternal family name due to his disproval at his father's new marriage.

Career statistics

Club

International

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

Honours

Qarabağ * Azerbaijan Premier League: 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20 * Azerbaijan Cup: 2015–16, 2016–17 Dinamo Zagreb * Croatian First Football League: 2021–22 Azerbaijan U23 *

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 s ...

Individual * Azerbaijan Premier League Top scorer: 2018–19, 2019–20

References

External links

*
Emreli profile on official club website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Emreli, Mahir 1997 births Living people Association football forwards Azerbaijani footballers Azerbaijan international footballers Azerbaijan under-21 international footballers Azerbaijan youth international footballers FC Baku players Qarabağ FK players Legia Warsaw players GNK Dinamo Zagreb players Konyaspor footballers Azerbaijan Premier League players Ekstraklasa players Croatian Football League players Süper Lig players Expatriate footballers in Poland Expatriate footballers in Croatia Expatriate footballers in Turkey Azerbaijani expatriate sportspeople in Poland Azerbaijani expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Sportspeople from Tver