Eljif Elmas
Елиф Елмас
Elmas playing for Napoli in 2021
Personal information
Date of birth (1999-09-24) 24 September 1999
Place of birth Skopje, Macedonia
Height 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s) Midfielder, winger
Team information
Current team
 RB Leipzig
Number 6
Youth career
2004–2013 FK Vardar
2013–2015 Rabotnički
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2015–2017 Rabotnički 44 (7)
2017–2019 Fenerbahçe 34 (4)
2019–2023 Napoli 143 (14)
2024– RB Leipzig 0 (0)
International career‡
Macedonia U17 2 (0)
2015–2018 Macedonia U19 13 (2)
2016–2017 Macedonia U21 9 (1)
2017– North Macedonia 56 (12)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 20:15, 8 December 2023 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 23:41, 20 November 2023 (UTC)

Eljif Elmas (Macedonian: Елиф Елмас; born 24 September 1999) is a Macedonian professional footballer who plays for Bundesliga club RB Leipzig and the North Macedonia national team. A versatile player, Elmas can be deployed as a central midfielder, right midfielder, winger or forward.

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 league goals and led 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 on to 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 €16 million, which could rise to €19 million in total with bonuses – including a €1.5 million 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]

On 19 December 2021, Elmas scored the winner for Napoli in a narrow away win against AC Milan, taking over second place in Serie A.[5]

Elmas went on to win the Scudetto with Napoli in 2023, the club's third title, and the first claimed outside of the Diego Maradona era.[6]

RB Leipzig

On 27 December 2023, Bundesliga club RB Leipzig announced that Elmas would join the club on 1 January 2024, upon the opening of the winter transfer window, signing a four-and-a-half-year contract.[7] The transfer fee paid by the Germans was reported as €23 million by German sports magazine Kicker.[8]

International career

Elmas was born in Macedonia to a family of Turkish descent.[9][10][11] In July 2017 it was reported that the then coach of the Turkey national football team, Fatih Terim, had tried to call him up, but Elmas decided to represent his birth country.[12]

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.[13]

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.[14]

On 31 March 2021, he scored the winning goal for North Macedonia in a 2–1 away win over Germany during the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification.[15]

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.[16]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 14 December 2023.[17]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[lower-alpha 1] Europe Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Rabotnički 2015–16 Macedonian First League 111–––111
2016–17 3360021–357
Total 4470021–468
Fenerbahçe 2017–18 Süper Lig 5020––70
2018–19 294209[lower-alpha 2]0–404
Total 3444090–474
Napoli 2019–20 Serie A 261505[lower-alpha 3]0–361
2020–21 332416[lower-alpha 2]01[lower-alpha 4]0443
2021–22 373108[lower-alpha 2]4–467
2022–23 3661010[lower-alpha 3]0–476
2023–24 112005[lower-alpha 3]000162
Total 143141113441018919
Career total 220251514451028131

International

As of match played 20 November 2023.[18]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
North Macedonia[lower-alpha 1]
201730
201850
2019104
202040
2021155
202290
2023103
Total5612
  1. ↑ North Macedonia was known as Macedonia until 2019
As of match played 16 June 2023.
Scores and results list North Macedonia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Elmas goal.[18]
List of international goals scored by Elif Elmas
No. Date Venue Cap Opponent Score Result Competition
1 21 March 2019Toše Proeski Arena, Skopje, North Macedonia9 Latvia2–03–1UEFA Euro 2020 qualification
2 3–1
3 10 October 2019Toše Proeski Arena, Skopje, North Macedonia15 Slovenia1–02–1UEFA Euro 2020 qualification
4 2–0
5 28 March 2021Toše Proeski Arena, Skopje, North Macedonia24 Liechtenstein4–05–02022 FIFA World Cup qualification
6 31 March 2021MSV-Arena, Duisburg, Germany25 Germany2–12–12022 FIFA World Cup qualification
7 1 June 2021Toše Proeski Arena, Skopje, North Macedonia26 Slovenia1–01–1Friendly
8 14 November 2021Toše Proeski Arena, Skopje, North Macedonia37 Iceland2–13–12022 FIFA World Cup qualification
9 3–1
10 23 March 2023Toše Proeski Arena, Skopje, North Macedonia47 Malta1–02–1UEFA Euro 2024 qualification
11 16 June 2023Toše Proeski Arena, Skopje, North Macedonia49 Ukraine2–02–3UEFA Euro 2024 qualification
12 12 September 2023National Stadium, Ta' Qali, Malta52 Malta1–02–0UEFA Euro 2024 qualification

Honours

Rabotnički

Napoli

Individual

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Fenerbahce Confirm €16m Eljif Elmas Transfer To Napoli, Fee Could Reach €19m – Financial Details Revealed". Turkish Football. 23 July 2019. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
  2. ↑ "Napoli, ufficializzato l'acquisto di Elmas a titolo definitivo". S.S.C. Napoli (in Italian). 24 July 2019. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
  3. ↑ "Napoli ready to punish Elmas for speaking to the media". Goal. 16 November 2019. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
  4. ↑ "Demme and Elmas help resurgent Napoli beat Sampdoria". France24. 3 February 2020. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
  5. ↑ "Elmas grabs win for Napoli in Milan after VAR drama as Cádiz hold Real Madrid". The Guardian. 19 December 2021.
  6. ↑ "Napoli seal first Italian football league title in 33 years". Al Jazeera English. 5 May 2023. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
  7. ↑ "Eljif Elmas to join RB Leipzig in January 2024!". RB Leipzig. 27 December 2023. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
  8. ↑ "Perfekt: Napolis Elmas wechselt zu RB Leipzig" [Perfect: Napoli's Elmas joins RB Leipzig]. kicker (in German). 27 December 2023. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
  9. ↑ Sporx (17 July 2017). "Eljif Elmas kimdir? Eljif Elmas, Türkiye Milli Takımı'nda oynayabiliyor mu?". Sporx (in Turkish). Retrieved 16 March 2021.
  10. ↑ "Muriç ve Eljif neden Türk Milli Takımı'nı tercih etmedi?". fenerkolik.org (in Turkish). Retrieved 16 March 2021.
  11. ↑ "Şekip Mosturoğlu: Fatih Terim, Eljif Elmas'ı milli takıma çok istedi". Milliyet (in Turkish). Retrieved 16 March 2021.
  12. ↑ Sporx (17 July 2017). "Eljif Elmas kimdir? Eljif Elmas, Türkiye Milli Takımı'nda oynayabiliyor mu?".
  13. ↑ FIFA.com. "2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™ - Matches - FYR Macedonia-Spain - FIFA.com". FIFA.com. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015.
  14. ↑ "Благоја Милевски ги избра седуммината од генерацијата 1996/97 за ЕП во Полска - ФФМ - Фудбалска Федерација на Македонија".
  15. ↑ "Germany 1–2 North Macedonia". FIFA. 31 March 2021. Archived from the original on 1 March 2021.
  16. ↑ "North Macedonia 3–1 Iceland". FIFA. 14 November 2021. Archived from the original on 17 November 2021.
  17. ↑ "E. Elmas". Soccerway. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
  18. 1 2 "Eljif Elmas". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
  19. ↑ "Napoli win Serie A for first time in 33 years". BBC Sport. 4 May 2023. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
  20. ↑ "Coppa: Napoli beat Juventus on penalties". Football Italia. 17 June 2020.
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