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Elif Elmas

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Elif Elmas
Елиф Елмас
Elmas playing for Napoli in 2021
Personal information
Date of birth (1999-09-24) 24 September 1999 (age 25)
Place of birth Skopje, Macedonia
Height 1.84 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)
2019–2024 Napoli 143 (14)
2024– RB Leipzig 16 (0)
International career‡
Macedonia U17 2 (0)
2015–2018 Macedonia U19 13 (2)
2016–2017 Macedonia U21 9 (1)
2017– North Macedonia 65 (13)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 21:06, 2 November 2024 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 23:04, 14 November 2024 (UTC)

Elif 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

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Early career

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Elmas started his career at FK Rabotnički in his native Macedonia. After a stand-out season in which he scored six 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

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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

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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

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Elmas was born in Macedonia (now North Macedonia) to a family of Turkish descent.[9][10][11] In July 2017, it was reported that 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]

Elmas was also included in the Macedonia U21 squad for the 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship in Poland, being the youngest footballer in the 23-man squad.[13] On 11 June 2017, at the age of 17, Elmas debuted for the Macedonian senior squad in a FIFA World Cup qualifier against Spain as a half-time substitute for Ostoja Stjepanović.[14]

On 31 March 2021, Elmas scored the winning goal for North Macedonia in a 2–1 away win over Germany during the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification.[15] The same year in November 2021, Elmas scored a brace in a 3–1 victory against Iceland, helping the team secure a runners-up spot in Group J, leading North Macedonia to a World Cup play-off.[16]

Career statistics

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Club

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As of match played 5 November 2024.[17]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[a] Europe Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Rabotnički 2015–16 Macedonian First League 11 1 — – — 11 1
2016–17 33 6 0 0 2 1 — 35 7
Total 44 7 0 0 2 1 — 46 8
Fenerbahçe 2017–18 Süper Lig 5 0 2 0 — — 7 0
2018–19 29 4 2 0 9[b] 0 — 40 4
Total 34 4 4 0 9 0 — 47 4
Napoli 2019–20 Serie A 26 1 5 0 5[c] 0 — 36 1
2020–21 33 2 4 1 6[b] 0 1[d] 0 44 3
2021–22 37 3 1 0 8[b] 4 — 46 7
2022–23 36 6 1 0 10[c] 0 — 47 6
2023–24 11 2 0 0 5[c] 0 0 0 16 2
Total 143 14 11 1 34 4 1 0 189 19
RB Leipzig 2023–24 Bundesliga 14 0 — 2[c] 0 — 16 0
2024–25 2 0 1 0 3[c] 0 — 6 0
Total 16 0 1 0 5 0 0 0 22 0
Career total 236 25 16 1 49 5 1 0 303 31
  1. ^ Includes Turkish Cup, Coppa Italia
  2. ^ a b c Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  3. ^ a b c d e Appearances in UEFA Champions League
  4. ^ Appearance in Supercoppa Italiana

International

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As of match played 14 November 2024[18]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
North Macedonia[a]
2017 3 0
2018 5 0
2019 10 4
2020 4 0
2021 15 5
2022 9 0
2023 10 3
2024 9 1
Total 65 13
  1. ^ North Macedonia was known as Macedonia until 2019
As of match played 14 November 2024
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 2019 Toše Proeski Arena, Skopje, North Macedonia 9  Latvia 2–0 3–1 UEFA Euro 2020 qualification
2 3–1
3 10 October 2019 Toše Proeski Arena, Skopje, North Macedonia 15  Slovenia 1–0 2–1 UEFA Euro 2020 qualification
4 2–0
5 28 March 2021 Toše Proeski Arena, Skopje, North Macedonia 24  Liechtenstein 4–0 5–0 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification
6 31 March 2021 MSV-Arena, Duisburg, Germany 25  Germany 2–1 2–1 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification
7 1 June 2021 Toše Proeski Arena, Skopje, North Macedonia 26  Slovenia 1–0 1–1 Friendly
8 14 November 2021 Toše Proeski Arena, Skopje, North Macedonia 37  Iceland 2–1 3–1 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification
9 3–1
10 23 March 2023 Toše Proeski Arena, Skopje, North Macedonia 47  Malta 1–0 2–1 UEFA Euro 2024 qualification
11 16 June 2023 Toše Proeski Arena, Skopje, North Macedonia 49  Ukraine 2–0 2–3 UEFA Euro 2024 qualification
12 12 September 2023 National Stadium, Ta' Qali, Malta 52  Malta 1–0 2–0 UEFA Euro 2024 qualification
13 10 October 2024 Skonto Stadium, Riga, Latvia 63  Latvia 3–0 3–0 2024–25 UEFA Nations League C

Honours

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Napoli

References

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  1. ^ a b c "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. ^ "Eljif Elmas kimdir? Eljif Elmas, Türkiye Milli Takımı'nda oynayabiliyor mu?". Sporx (in Turkish). 17 July 2017. 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). 30 June 2020. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
  12. ^ "Eljif Elmas kimdir? Eljif Elmas, Türkiye Milli Takımı'nda oynayabiliyor mu?". sporx.com (in Turkish). 17 July 2017.
  13. ^ "Благоја Милевски ги избра седуммината од генерацијата 1996/97 за ЕП во Полска". Football Federation of Macedonia (in Macedonian).
  14. ^ Bulatović, Vladimir (11 June 2017). "Елмас дебитира за Македонија со 17 години... (Фото + видео)" [Elmas debuted for Macedonia at 17 years old... (Photo + Video)]. Ekipa Macedonia (in Macedonian).
  15. ^ Popovski, Zoran (1 January 2022). "Македонскиот маратонец Елиф Елмас | Одигра 70 натпревари во 2021 година, само тројца во Европа се пред него (Фото)" [Macedonian marathoner Elif Elmas | He played 70 games in 2021, only three in Europe are ahead of him (Photo)]. Sport Manija (in Macedonian).
  16. ^ "Елиф, Елиф, Елиф... Македонија повторно води! (видео)" [Elif, Elif, Elif... Macedonia leads again! (video)]. Sport Sport (in Macedonian). 14 November 2021.
  17. ^ "E. Elmas". Soccerway. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
  18. ^ a b "Elif 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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