Mohamed Ihattaren

A youth product of PSV Eindhoven since 2010, Ihattaren signed his first professional contract with PSV on 28 March 2018.[6] Ihattaren made his professional debut for PSV in a 2–1 Eredivisie win over FC Groningen on 26 January 2019, coming on as a late substitute for Gastón Pereiro.[7] He became the fourth-youngest player to make his debut for PSV, only succeeded by Stanley Bish, Wilfred Bouma and Willy Janssen.[8]

Ihattaren made four appearances for the first team before making his debut for reserve team Jong PSV in the second-tier Eerste Divisie on 22 February 2019, in a 2–2 home draw against Roda JC Kerkrade. In that game, he scored his first senior goal.[9]

Ihattaren had made eight appearances for the first team when head coach Mark van Bommel definitively promoted him to the first-team squad in March 2019.[10] There, he went on to compete for a spot as an attacking midfielder with Gastón Pereiro and Érick Gutiérrez.[11]

Ihattaren scored his first goal for PSV's first team on 18 August 2019, netting to close the game with a 2–0 final score Heracles Almelo.[12] His first European goal followed four days after, when he scored the opener in a 3–0 win in the UEFA Europa League qualifier against Apollon Limassol.[13]

Ihattaren scored his second goal in the Eredivisie on 7 December 2019, in a 5–0 win over Fortuna Sittard. He scored from a penalty in the 52nd minute and dedicated the goal to his father, who had died two months earlier.[14][15] By scoring the penalty, Ihattaren became the youngest player ever to score on a penalty-kick in the Eredivisie (17 years and 298 days). He broke the record of Ronald Koeman, who was 17 years and 325 days at the time of his first successful penalty-kick.[16] Ihattaren became a starter in the first team of PSV during the 2019–20 season.[17]

In the first half of the 2020–21 season, Ihattaren lost his place in the starting lineup under new head coach Roger Schmidt.[17] Only in December 2020, he emerged from his slump of form.[18] In February 2021, however, tensions broke out again between Schmidt and Ihattaren, and the latter's attitude was questioned.[19][20]

On 31 July 2021, Ihattaren was axed from the squad for disciplinary reasons as he was officially absent from practice with PSV due to illness. Instead, he was spotted at the Nice training ground together with his agent Mino Raiola.[21][22]

On 31 August 2021, Ihattaren joined Serie A side Juventus, signing a four-year contract.[23]

After singing with Juventus, he was promptly loaned to fellow-Serie A club Sampdoria on a one-year deal.[24] On 12 September, Ihattaren made his first bench appearance in a 2–2 draw against Inter Milan, without making his debut.[25] In October 2021 – only a month and a half after his arrival – Ihattaren had still not made his debut for the club, and reports of 'adaptation issues' arose,[26] despite Ihattaren having been assigned a personal assistant in Italy to support him with practical matters, in addition to his own manager José Fortes Rodríguez, the man who has been guiding him on behalf of his agent Mino Raiola for several years.[27] Allegedly, Sampdoria were fed up with his behaviour and lack of professionalism.[27] He had practiced individually for a long time to regain his fitness in Genoa, but regularly visited acquaintances in Monaco and Milan, cities about two and a half hours drive from Genoa.[26][27] He returned to the Netherlands for "personal reasons" on 14 October 2021.[28] Ihattaren ended his experience at Sampdoria with only one bench appearance and he was never fielded onto the pitch.[25]

On 12 January 2022 it was reported that Ihattaren was working on his fitness with Gerald Vanenburg in order to facilitate a re-entry into professional football.[29] Initial reports speculated a return to his hometown club FC Utrecht.[30] On 30 January it was confirmed that Ajax had loaned him from Juventus for one year with an option to buy set at €2 million.[31][32] On 11 March, after still having not made his debut for the club, manager Erik ten Hag expressed his disappointment with Ihattaren's physical improvement in recent weeks: "If you can't run, it ends there".[33]

On 1 April, Ihattaren first appeared for Jong Ajax, AFC Ajax's youth team competing in the Eerste Divisie league, in a 0–0 draw against NAC Breda, which marked his first competitive game in almost a year.[34] Three days later, Ihattaren played his first game with Jong Ajax as a starter and scored a goal against TOP Oss, helping his side win 4–1.[35] On 17 April, Ihattaren debuted for the first team during the 2022 KNVB Cup Final loss against PSV, his former team, coming on as a substitute in the 86th minute.[36] On 25 April, he scored an hat-trick in ten minutes in Jong Ajax's 6–1 win against VVV-Venlo.[25][37]