Zakaria Bakkali

Zakaria Bakkali (born 26 January 1996) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays for Belgian club Beerschot on loan from R.S.C. Anderlecht and the Belgium national football team as a winger.

Zakaria Bakkali
Bakkali playing for PSV in 2013
Personal information
Full name Zakaria Bakkali
Date of birth (1996-01-26) 26 January 1996
Place of birth Liège, Belgium
Height 1.67 m (5 ft 5 1⁄2 in)[1]
Position(s) Winger
Club information
Current team
 K. Beerschot V.A.
(on loan from Anderlecht)
Number 99
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)
2015–2018 Valencia 34 (2)
2017–2018 → Deportivo La Coruña (loan) 23 (0)
2018–2021 Anderlecht 24 (2)
2021– → K. Beerschot V.A. (loan) 0 (0)
National team‡
2011 Belgium U15 6 (6)
2011–2012 Belgium U16 4 (4)
2012–2013 Belgium U17 12 (7)
2013–2016 Belgium U21 9 (1)
2013– Belgium 2 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 29 December 2020 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 11 October 2016 (UTC)

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

Born in Liège to immigrant parents from Morocco,[2] 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 2013, 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 La Liga club Valencia CF, after agreeing to a five-year deal.[11] He made his unofficial debut against Werder Bremen in the 2015 Audi quattro Cup final on 11 July 2015.[12]

He scored his first goal for Valencia on 31 October 2015 in a 3–0 home win over local rivals Levante.[13] On 14 July 2017, he was loaned to fellow league team Deportivo de La Coruña for one year.[14]

Anderlecht

On 4 July 2018, Bakkali returned to Belgium to sign with R.S.C. Anderlecht.[15]

Loan to Beerschot

On 1 February 2021, Bakkali moved to Belgium club Beerschot, on a loan deal until the end of the season.[16] The deal includes a purchase option.[16]

International career

After his breakthrough into the PSV first team, Belgium senior coach Marc Wilmots selected him in his 25-man squad for the friendly match against France.[17] 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.[18] He was recalled to the Belgium squad in October 2015 for Euro 2016 qualifiers against Andorra and Israel.[19]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 23 February 2020.[20]
Club Season Division League Cup Europe Other Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
PSV 2013–14 Eredivisie 163204100224
2014–15 0000000000
Total 163204100224
Jong PSV 2013–14 Eerste Divisie 10—10
2014–15 51—51
Total 61—61
Valencia 2015–16 La Liga 161300000191
2016–17 18131—212
Total 342610000403
Deportivo de La Coruña 2017–18 La Liga 23010—240
Anderlecht 2018–19 Belgian First Division A 18100—181
2019–20 4100—41
Total 222000000222
Career total 101891410011410

International
As of match played 10 October 2015.[21]
Belgium
YearAppsGoals
201310
201400
201510
Total20

References
  1. "Zakaria Bakkali". Valencia CF. Retrieved 13 December 2015.
  2. "Teenager Bakkali still considering whether to play for Morocco or Belgium". Ahram Online. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
  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 CF. 6 July 2015. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
  12. "Valencia CF English on Twitter". Twitter.
  13. "Derby defeat to Valencia leaves Levante propping up La Liga". ESPN FC. 31 October 2015. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
  14. "Official Statement | Zararia Bakkali". Valencia CF. 14 July 2017. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
  15. "El Valencia confirma el traspaso de Zakaria Bakkali al Anderlecht belga" (in Spanish). Mundo Deportivo. 4 July 2018.
  16. "Done deal: Beerschot huurt Zakaria Bakkali van Anderlecht met aankoopoptie" [Done deal: Beerschot rents Zakaria Bakkali from Anderlecht with purchase option]. Het Nieuwsblad (in Dutch). February 1, 2021. Retrieved 2021-02-02.
  17. "Teenager Bakkali drafted into Belgium squad". FIFA.com. 8 August 2013.
  18. Buysse, Frank (7 October 2013). "Bakkali: 'Ja, ik kies voor de Rode Duivels'". De Standaard (in Dutch). Retrieved 7 October 2013.
  19. "Belgium make sweeping changes for Euro 2016 double-header". Sky Sports. 2 October 2015. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
  20. "Z Bakkali". Soccerway. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
  21. "Zakaria Bakkali". National-Football-Teams.com.
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