Zakaria Bakkali

Zakaria Bakkali

Bakkali playing for PSV in 2013
Personal information
Full name	Zakaria Bakkali
Date of birth	26 January 1996
Place of birth	Liège, Belgium
Height	1.64 m (5 ft 4 ^1⁄2 in)[1]
Playing position	Winger
Club information
Current team	Valencia
Number	16
Youth career
2003–2005	RFC Liège
2005–2008	Standard Liège
2008–2013	PSV
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps^†	(Gls)^†
2013–2015	PSV	16	(3)
2014–2015	Jong PSV	6	(1)
2015–	Valencia	16	(1)
National team^‡
2011	Belgium U15	6	(6)
2011–2012	Belgium U16	4	(4)
2012–2013	Belgium U17	12	(7)
2013–	Belgium U21	6	(1)
2013–	Belgium	2	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 31 January 2016. † Appearances (goals) ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 20:50, 13 November 2015 (UTC)

Zakaria Bakkali (born 26 January 1996) is a Belgian professional footballer of Moroccan descent who plays for Spanish club Valencia CF and the Belgium national football team as a winger.

Bakkali's parents are immigrants from Morocco.^[2]

He is most famous for becoming the youngest Eredivisie player of all-time to score a hat-trick, at the age of 17 years and 196 days.

Club career

PSV

After starting his footballing career at the youth academies of RFC Liège and later Standard Liège, Bakkali transferred to PSV Eindhoven of the Netherlands at the age of 12.^[3]

On 30 July 2013, Bakkali made his debut for PSV against Zulte Waregem in a UEFA Champions League qualifying match.^[4] He made his Eredivisie debut against ADO Den Haag in the opening game of the season on 3 August.^[5]

On 7 August, he scored his first senior goal in the second-leg of the Champions League tie against Zulte Waregem in a 3–0 win.^[6] On 10 August, he scored a hat-trick in PSV's 5–0 defeat of NEC Nijmegen at the Philips Stadion, becoming the youngest player to score a hat-trick in Eredivisie history.^[7]

In the middle of 2014, Bakkali was set for a move to Atlético Madrid for a fee of around €2-3 million, but the move fell through. After the move failed, interest from the Premier League began to rise throughout the 2014–15 season. After rejecting a new contract from PSV, Bakkali was banished from the first-team, with PSV agreeing to sell him in the winter transfer window.^[8] Scottish club Celtic offered £750,000 on transfer deadline day for Bakkali,^[9] but a PSV spokesman stated that "this deadline day no deal will be closed by PSV with any team for this particular player".^[10]

Valencia

On 6 July 2015 Bakkali moved to Valencia CF in La Liga, after agreeing to a five-year deal.^[11] He made his unofficial debut against Werder Bremen at the 2015 Audi quattro Cup final on 11 July 2015.^[12]

International career

After his breakthrough into the PSV first team, Belgium senior coach Marc Wilmots selected him in the 25-man squad for the friendly match against France.^[13] Due to a training injury sustained the day before the game, he was pulled out of the squad. With his dual nationality and without full international appearances, he still had the choice to play for the Morocco national football team, but on 7 October 2013 (shortly before Belgium's last two 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers) he formally opted for the Red Devils.^[14] He was recalled to the Belgium squad in October 2015 for Euro 2016 qualifiers against Andorra and Israel.^[15]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 17 January 2016^[16]

Club	Season	Division	League		Cup		Europe		Other		Total
			Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
PSV	2013–14	Eredivisie	16	3	2	0	4	1	0	0	22	4
	2014–15		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Total		16	3	2	0	4	1	0	0	22	4
Jong PSV	2013–14	Eerste Divisie	1	0	—						1	0
	2014–15		5	1	—						5	1
	Total		6	1	—						6	1
Valencia	2015–16	La Liga	14	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	16	1
	Total		14	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	16	1
Career total			36	5	4	0	4	1	0	0	44	6

International

Belgium
Year	Apps	Goals
2013	1	0
2014	0	0
Total	1	0

References

1. "Zakaria Bakkali". http://en.valenciacf.com/. Valencia CF. Retrieved 13 December 2015. External link in |website= (help)
3. "The Scouting Report – PSV wonderkid Zakaria Bakkali". Newstalk. 18 August 2013. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
4. "Jongste PSV ooit overklast Zulte Waregem, maar monsterscore blijft uit". Omroep Brabant (in Dutch). 30 July 2013. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
5. "PSV record 2-3 win over ADO in first game of the new campaign". Philips Sport Vereniging. 3 August 2013. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
6. "Bakkali duwt Zulte Waregem dieperik in". Sportwereld (in Dutch). 7 August 2013. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
7. "Teenage wonder Bakkali's hat-trick hands PSV 5-0 win". Eurosport. 10 August 2013. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
8. "'His career here is over' - PSV confirm Zakaria Bakkali will leave the club". HITCSport. 30 November 2014. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
9. "Celtic set for storming £750,000 Bakkali bid". Daily Record. 1 February 2015. Retrieved 16 March 2015.
10. "'Future of Bakkali uncertain' - PSV decline Celtic bid". STV Sport. 2 February 2015. Retrieved 16 March 2015.
11. "Official Statement | Bakkali". Valencia's official website. 6 July 2015. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
12. "Valencia CF English on Twitter". Twitter.
13. "Teenager Bakkali drafted into Belgium squad". FIFA.com. 8 August 2013.
14. Buysse, Frank (7 October 2013). "Bakkali: ‘Ja, ik kies voor de Rode Duivels’". De Standaard (in Dutch). Retrieved 7 October 2013.
15. "Belgium make sweeping changes for Euro 2016 double-header". Sky Sports. 2 October 2015. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
16. "Z Bakkali". Soccerway. Retrieved 2 February 2015.

External Links

• Voetbal International profile (Dutch)
• Belgium stats at Belgian FA
• Zakaria Bakkali on Soccerway