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Anwar El Ghazi (born 3 May 1995) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a winger for Premier League club Aston Villa and the Netherlands national team.
Club career
Early career
El Ghazi began his football career in the youth ranks of his local club BVV Barendrecht, joining the youth academy of Feyenoord for two seasons. He then joined the ranks of Spartaan '20 before being recruited to Sparta Rotterdam, where he progressed through the academy. In 2013, he joined the Ajax Youth Academy, playing for the A1 selection (under-19), competing in the UEFA Youth League.
Ajax
El Ghazi was signed by Ajax in July 2013. During the 2014–15 pre-season, he scored 8 goals in 150 minutes of playing time, finishing as Ajax's top pre-season scorer. While Ajax initially intended to send El Ghazi to their reserve team, Jong Ajax, El Ghazi's pre-season prompted Ajax to include him in the first-team squad, following the loan of fellow winger Lesley de Sa to Go Ahead Eagles. El Ghazi made his official debut for Ajax in the 2014 Johan Cruyff Shield against PEC Zwolle, coming on for Ricardo Kishna in the 1–0 loss at home.
El Ghazi made his regular season debut for Ajax in the 2014–15 Eredivisie season opener against Vitesse. The match ended in a 4–1 home victory, with El Ghazi providing the assist for the fourth goal by Lasse Schöne in the 87th minute. On 17 August 2014, El Ghazi scored his first Eredivisie goal in the 3–1 away win against AZ, scoring in the 90th minute. He scored his first UEFA Champions League goal on 22 October 2014 at Camp Nou against Barcelona in the 88th minute of a 3–1 loss. In so doing, he became the first player to score at Camp Nou since the beginning of the 2014–15 season, when Barcelona went five matches at home without conceding a goal.
Lille
On 31 January 2017, it was announced El Ghazi had been sold to French Ligue 1 side Lille for a €8 million transfer fee.
Aston Villa
On 22 August 2018, El Ghazi signed for Championship club Aston Villa on a season-long loan, with a clause to buy included. He made his debut on 25 August 2018 in a 1–1 draw with Reading, providing an assist by crossing the ball to Ahmed Elmohamady, who scored a header.
On 28 April 2019, in a heated contest between Aston Villa and Championship playoff rivals Leeds United at Elland Road, El Ghazi was mistakenly shown the red card by referee Stuart Attwell after allegedly striking Leeds forward Patrick Bamford during an on pitch brawl following Mateusz Klich's controversial 72nd opening goal for Leeds United following Tyler Roberts' refusal to put the ball out of touch for an injury. The decision was met with controversy from fans and pundits alike, with Aston Villa head coach Dean Smith claiming that after reviewing the footage of the incident reported that he'd be 'amazed' if the red card and subsequent three-game ban weren't overturned after appeal. The red card and ban was later rescinded and on 2 May, Bamford was banned for two games for "successful deception of a match official".
On 27 May 2019, El Ghazi scored Aston Villa's first goal in their 2–1 EFL Championship Play-off final victory over Derby County.In the 44th minute he met an Ahmed Elmohamady cross from the right with an attempted diving header which diverted in off his back.In the second half an El Ghazi shot from just outside the penalty area was blocked by Richard Keogh, looping up for John McGinn to steal in and score with a header, putting Aston Villa 2–0 up in the tie on 59 minutes.
El Ghazi signed for Villa permanently on 10 June 2019 on a four-year contract for an undisclosed fee.
International career
Having dual citizenship, El Ghazi was eligible to represent either the Netherlands or Morocco at senior level. He made his international debut playing for the Netherlands under-18 side in a friendly match against Austria on 15 October 2012, a 2–0 loss.
El Ghazi met Cristiano Ronaldo during the summer break, a player who he looks up to, and asked him whether he should represent the Netherlands or Morocco. Ronaldo advised him to choose the Netherlands because he would have a higher chance to participate in an international tournament, based on their history. Consequently, El Ghazi said he would choose to represent the Netherlands and was subsequently called up for the Netherlands' two final UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying matches, against Kazakhstan on 10 October 2015 and the Czech Republic on 13 October. He was named to the Oranje's starting line-up for both matches as the Dutch defeated Kazakhstan 2–1 but lost to the Czechs 3–2. The Netherlands failed to qualify for the tournament proper after finishing fourth in their qualifying group.
Career statistics
- As of match played 2 November 2019
| Club | Season | League | National Cup | League Cup | Continental | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Ajax | 2014–15 | 31 | 9 | 2 | 0 | — | 9 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 43 | 10 | |
| 2015–16 | 27 | 11 | 1 | 0 | — | 9 | 0 | — | 37 | 11 | |||
| 2016–17 | 12 | 0 | 2 | 1 | — | 6 | 1 | — | 20 | 2 | |||
| Total | 70 | 20 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 100 | 23 | |
| Lille | 2016–17 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 13 | 2 | ||
| 2017–18 | 27 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 31 | 4 | |||
| Total | 39 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 44 | 6 | |
| Aston Villa (loan) | 2018–19 | 31 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 3 | 1 | 36 | 6 | |
| Aston Villa | 2019–20 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | — | — | 12 | 3 | ||
| Total | 41 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 48 | 9 | |
| Career total | 150 | 32 | 9 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 24 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 192 | 38 | |
Honours
Aston Villa
- EFL Championship play-offs: 2019
- EFL Cup runner-up: 2019–20
Individual
- AFC Ajax Talent of the Year: 2015
