Youssef En-Nesyri


Youssef En-Nesyri is a Moroccan professional footballer who plays for La Liga Spanish club Sevilla FC as a striker and for the Morocco national team.
He spent his professional career in Spain, representing Málaga, Leganés and Sevilla in La Liga.
A full international for Morocco since 2016, he represented the nation at the 2018 FIFA World Cup and two Africa Cup of Nations tournaments.

Club career

Málaga

After starting his youth career at Mohammed VI Football Academy, En-Nesyri joined Málaga CF for a fee of €125,000 in 2015. Initially assigned to the Juvenil squad, he made his senior debut for the reserves on 16 April 2016, scoring the last in a 3–1 Tercera División away win against Guadix CF. He netted back-to-back goals in the following three matches against CD Huétor Tájar, River Melilla CF and FC Vilafranca and went on to become an integral player for the reserve side which narrowly missed promotion to Segunda Division B.
On 8 July 2016, En-Nesyri was included in first team manager Juande Ramos' pre-season squad, and scored a double in a 4–0 friendly win against Algeciras CF eight days later.
On 23 August 2016, after scoring six goals during the pre-season, En-Nesyri agreed to a contract extension until 2020. Three days later he made his professional – and La Liga – debut, coming on as a late substitute for Keko in a 2–2 away draw against RCD Espanyol.
En-Nesyri scored his first professional goal on 21 September 2016, netting the winner in a 2–1 home victory against SD Eibar, after coming on as a substitute for Charles. He contributed with four goals in 25 league appearances during the 2017–18 campaign, as his side suffered relegation.

Leganés

On 17 August 2018, following Malaga's relegation from the La Liga, En-Nesyri signed a five-year contract with CD Leganés in the main category. He scored his first goals in his ninth game, to earn a 2–2 home draw with nearby Rayo Vallecano in the first leg of the last 32 of the Copa del Rey on 30 October, and on 23 November he netted his first league goal, the only one of a victory also at the Estadio Municipal de Butarque against a Deportivo Alavés team that was challenging for top spot.
In late January to February 2019, En-Nesyri scored six goals in three games as Leganés avoided defeat: a brace in a 2–2 draw with Eibar, the late winner at Rayo and then all three goals against Real Betis; this last result made him the first Pepinero to net a hat-trick in La Liga.

Sevilla

On 16 January 2020, Sevilla FC signed En-Nesyri from Leganés for a reported €25 million, on a contract lasting to June 2025; the Andalusians had recently sold their strikers Moanes Dabour and Javier Hernández. He debuted two days later in a 2–1 loss at Real Madrid, as a 65th-minute substitute for Munir El Haddadi, and on his first start on 9 February he opened the scoring on a trip to RC Celta de Vigo with the same result.
En-Nesyri made his debut in European competitions on 20 February 2020, in the UEFA Europa League last 32 first leg away to CFR Cluj in Romania. He scored the late equaliser in a 1–1 draw, that put his team through on the away goals rule.

International career

After representing Morocco at under-20 level, En-Nesyri was called up to the full squad by manager Hervé Renard on 22 August 2016, for friendlies against Albania and São Tomé and Príncipe. He made his debut against the former nine days later, starting in a 0–0 draw at the Loro Boriçi Stadium in Shkodër.
En-Nesyri was called up for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon, and scored in the second group game in a 3–1 win over Togo. He was a late addition to the squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, at the expense of defender Badr Banoun. In the last group game against Spain at the Kaliningrad Stadium, he gave the team a late lead in a 2–2 draw.
At the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt, En-Nesyri scored the only goal of a win over the Ivory Coast to send the Atlas Lions into the last 16. There, he equalised against Benin as the game went to a penalty shootout, in which Saturnin Allagbé saved from him to knock the Moroccans out.

Career statistics

International

International goals

GoalDateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.20 January 2017Stade d'Oyem, Oyem, Gabon3–13–12017 Africa Cup of Nations
2.9 June 2018A. Le Coq Arena, Tallinn, Estonia3–03–1Friendly
3.25 June 2018Kaliningrad Stadium, Kaliningrad, Russia2–12–22018 FIFA World Cup
4.8 September 2018Stade Mohammed V, Casablanca, Morocco2–03–02019 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
5.8 September 2018Stade Mohammed V, Casablanca, Morocco3–03–02019 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
6.20 November 2018Stade Olympique de Radès, Rades, Tunisia1–01–0Friendly
7.28 June 2019Al Salam Stadium, Cairo, Egypt1–01–02019 Africa Cup of Nations
8.5 July 2019Al Salam Stadium, Cairo, Egypt1–11–1 2019 Africa Cup of Nations
9.19 November 2019Prince Louis Rwagasore Stadium, Bujumbura, Burundi2–03–02021 Africa Cup of Nations qualification