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Achraf Lazaar

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Achraf Lazaar
Personal information
Date of birth (1992-01-22) 22 January 1992 (age 32)
Place of birth Casablanca, Morocco
Height 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s) Left back
Youth career
Raja Casablanca
2009–2012 Varese
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2012–2014 Varese 37 (0)
2014–2016 Palermo 66 (3)
2016–2021 Newcastle United 4 (0)
2017–2018 → Benevento (loan) 9 (1)
2019 → Sheffield Wednesday (loan) 4 (0)
2019–2020 → Cosenza (loan) 9 (1)
2021 Watford 5 (0)
2021–2022 Portimonense 4 (0)
2023 Novara 6 (0)
2024 Al Ittifaq
2024 → Dubai City (loan)
International career
2014–2018 Morocco 19 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 28 July 2024

Achraf Lazaar (Arabic: أشرف لزعر; born 22 January 1992) is a Moroccan international footballer who plays as a left midfielder or left back.

Club career

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Born in Casablanca, Lazaar moved to Italy with his parents in 2003. He began his football career with Varese's youth system, at the age of fifteen. He went on to make his senior debut with the team in Serie B, in 2012, immediately emerging as one of the most interesting prospects from the small Lombardian team.[1]

In January 2014, he was signed by top of Serie B Palermo, on loan with the option to make the move permanent by the end of the season. Initially signed as an understudy to the more experienced Fabio Daprelà, Lazaar immediately gained a starting spot thanks to his impressive performances. He was later permanently signed by Palermo and confirmed as part of the club's 2014–15 squad.

On 28 August 2016, Lazaar joined Newcastle United on a five-year deal.[2] He made his debut in a 2–0 win in the EFL Cup against Wolverhampton Wanderers on 20 September 2016.[3] His league debut took place when he came on as a 72nd-minute substitute for Yoan Gouffran against Brentford on 15 October 2016.[4] On 31 August 2017 Lazaar returned to Italy with a loan to Benevento.[5] On 31 January 2019 Lazaar joined Sheffield Wednesday on loan until the end of the season.[6]

On 2 September 2019, he joined Italian Serie B club Cosenza on loan.[7]

On 4 February 2021, Lazaar and Newcastle United mutually agreed to terminate his contract.[8]

On 11 February 2021, Lazaar signed for Watford on a deal until the end of the season, with an option to extend a further year.[9] He left Watford at the end of the 2020–21 season following the expiration of his contract.[10] Following his release from Watford, Lazaar went on trial with Reading in July 2021.[11]

On 26 August 2021, he joined Portimonense in Portugal on a two-year contract.[12]

On 2 February 2023, he signed for Serie C club Novara until the end of the 2022–23 season.[13]

International career

[edit]

Having been born in Morocco, Lazaar is eligible to play for Morocco by birth, but until 2015 was ineligible to play for Italy despite having been raised there. He holds Italian citizenship since April 2015.[14][15] He had originally never stated a clear preference to represent Morocco or Italy, instead declaring he would play for the first international team that showed a genuine interest in calling him up.[1] His impressive Serie B performances with Palermo brought interest from the Moroccan national team, who called him up for a friendly match against Mozambique on 23 May 2014 and ended in a 4–0 win, during which he made his first senior international appearance.

Career statistics

[edit]
As of match played 8 May 2021[16]
Club Season League Cup League Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Varese 2012–13 Serie B 20 0 2 1 — — 22 1
2013–14 17 0 3 0 — — 20 0
Total 37 0 5 1 — — 42 1
Palermo 2013–14 Serie B 14 0 0 0 — — 14 0
2014–15 Serie A 29 2 1 0 — — 30 2
2015–16 30 1 1 0 — — 31 1
2016–17 0 0 1 0 — — 1 0
Total 73 3 3 0 — — 76 3
Newcastle United 2016–17 Championship 4 0 3 0 2 0 — 9 0
2017–18 Premier League 0 0 1 0 0 0 — 1 0
2020–21 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 0
Total 4 0 4 0 2 0 0 0 10 0
Newcastle United U21 2020–21 — — — — 1[a] 0 1 0
Benevento (loan) 2017–18 Serie A 9 1 — — — 9 1
Sheffield Wednesday (loan) 2018–19 Championship 4 0 0 0 0 0 — 4 0
Cosenza (loan) 2019–20 Serie B 9 1 0 0 — — 9 1
Watford 2020–21 Championship 5 0 0 0 0 0 — 5 0
Career total 141 5 12 1 2 0 1 0 156 6
  1. ^ Appearances in EFL Trophy

References

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  1. ^ a b "Lazaar corre per realizzare il suo sogno: "In A con il Varese"" [Lazaar runs to realize his dream: "Serie A with Varese"] (in Italian). Varese News. 19 September 2013. Archived from the original on 19 January 2014. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
  2. ^ "Lazaar Arrives At St. James' Park". nufc.co.uk. 28 August 2016.
  3. ^ "Newcastle 2–0 Wolves". BBC Sport. 20 September 2016. Retrieved 21 September 2016.
  4. ^ "Newcastle United 3–1 Brentford". BBC Sport. 15 October 2016. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
  5. ^ "Lazaar a Benevento". goal.com. 31 August 2017. Retrieved 31 August 2017.
  6. ^ "Newcastle Trio Leave On Loan". Sky Sports. 31 January 2019. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
  7. ^ "ACHRAF LAZAAR È UN NUOVO CALCIATORE DEL COSENZA!" (Press release) (in Italian). Cosenza. 2 September 2019.
  8. ^ "Lazaar leaves the Magpies" (Press release). Newcastle United FC. 4 February 2021.
  9. ^ "Lazaar joins Hornets". Watford FC. 11 February 2021. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
  10. ^ "News: Retain & Release List Confirmed". Watford FC. 18 May 2021. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
  11. ^ "Ex Newcastle United defender on trial with Reading FC". readingchronicle.co.uk/. Reading Chronicle. 14 July 2021. Retrieved 14 July 2021.
  12. ^ "APRESENTAÇÃO DE ACHRAF LAZAAR" (in Portuguese). Portimonense. 26 August 2021. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
  13. ^ "Achraf Lazaar è un calciatore azzurro" (in Italian). Novara F.C. 2 February 2023.
  14. ^ "Palermo: Achraf Lazaar acquisisce cittadinanza italiana". Mediagol (in Italian). 7 April 2015. Retrieved 28 May 2018.
  15. ^ "Lazaar diventa cittadino italiano". VareseNews (in Italian). 4 May 2015. Retrieved 28 May 2018.
  16. ^ Achraf Lazaar at Soccerway
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