Faissal El Bakhtaoui

Faissal El Bakhtaoui
Personal information
Full name Faissal El Bakhtaoui
Date of birth (1992-11-08) 8 November 1992
Place of birth Saint-Tropez,[1] France
Playing position Striker
Club information
Current team
 Dunfermline Athletic
(on loan from Dundee)
Number 18
Youth career
Racing Club de la Baie
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2012–2016 Dunfermline Athletic 70 (31)
2016– Dundee 58 (6)
2018– → Dunfermline Athletic (loan) 1 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 22:13, 4 August 2018 (UTC)

Faissal El Bakhtaoui (born 8 November 1992) is a French Moroccan[2] footballer who plays as a striker for Dunfermline Athletic, on loan from Dundee.[3]

Career

Dunfermline Athletic

Born in Saint-Tropez,[1] El Bakhtaoui begin his career with French side Racing Club de la Baie.[4] In July 2012, Scottish First Division side Dunfermline Athletic signed El Bakhtaoui after he impressed then-manager Jim Jefferies in trial matches against Berwick Rangers and Lochgelly.[4] His first season with The Pars resulted in him mainly working on his development, with only two appearances being made in the latter stages of the season.

With Dunfermline's financial difficulties causing many first team players to leave the club, El Bakhtaoui started to feature in more matches, mainly in the second half of the 2013–14 season, where he went on to score four goals in 18 matches; two of which were in Scottish Championship play-off matches against Stranraer in May 2014.[5][6]

The 2014–15 season started even more brightly for El Bakhtaoui, having been included in the Pars team for most matches. In October and November, he scored four goals in five league matches to help Dunfermline in their push for promotion to the Scottish Championship.

El Bakhtaoui's start to the 2015–16 season was even more impressive than the previous season, with the forward scoring four consecutive braces in the first four competitive matches of the season, scoring a further two against Scottish Premiership side Dundee in the Scottish League Cup.[7] After attracting interest from other teams, El Bakhtaoui was named Scottish League One Player of the Month for the month of August,[8] primarily for his achievement of scoring 12 goals in eight matches. He was once again given the player of the month award for March,[9] after his goals against Stenhousemuir and Ayr United, as well as his first career hat-trick against in a 3–1 win over Brechin City,[10] helped sealed the Scottish League One championship for the Pars.

With his contract due to expire at the end of May 2016, El Bakhtaoui once again began attracting interest from a number of top-tier teams, including Motherwell[11] and Dundee.[12] Although offered a new contract by the Pars, El Bakhtaoui announced in April 2016 that he was ready to move to a club in a higher league,[13] and with the relationship between him and manager Allan Johnston breaking down due to the latter allowing the player a 15-minute cameo in the final game of the season,[14] it appeared that El Bakhtaoui would be leaving the club at the end of his contract.

Dundee

In July 2016, El Bakhtaoui went on trial with English Championship club Blackburn Rovers, after former Dunfermline striker Owen Coyle had been impressed by his goalscoring record.[15] After his trial with Rovers ended, El Bakhtaoui signed a three-year deal with Scottish Premiership side Dundee on 2 August 2016.[16][17][18] El Bakhtaoui's first appearance for the Dark Blues came as a second-half substitute for Danny Williams in a 1–3 victory over Ross County in Dingwall.[19] He made a further appearance as a substitute against Rangers at Dens Park,[20] before making his first start six days later in a 1–1 draw with Hamilton Academical.[21] El Bakhtaoui spent the season playing out wide or behind the striker and finished the season with 4 goals. One of which was a goal of the season contender in a 2–1 defeat against Celtic receiving positive comments from Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers.

At the start of the 2017–18 season in the Dundee Derby in the second round of the Scottish League Cup, El Bakhtaoui scored his first goal of the season, a half volley from 25 yards to help Dundee to a 2–1 victory.

El Bakhtaoui returned to Dunfermline on 12 July 2018, signing a one-year loan deal with his former club.[22]

Career statistics

As of 4 August 2018 [23]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competiion
Club Season League Scottish Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Dunfermline Athletic 2012–13[24] Scottish First Division 1000001[lower-alpha 1]020
2013–14[25] Scottish League One 14210005[lower-alpha 2]2204
2014–15[26] 23732102[lower-alpha 3]0299
2015–16[27] 322231343[lower-alpha 3]34130
Total 703173421159243
Dundee 2016–17[28] Scottish Premiership 3031000—313
2017–18[29] 2832052—355
2018–19[30] 000000–00
Total 586305200668
Dunfermline Athletic (loan) 2018–19[30] Scottish Championship 1000220032
Career total 1293710311811516153
  1. ↑ Appearance in the First Division play-offs
  2. ↑ One appearance in the Scottish Challenge Cup; four appearances and two goals in the Championship play-offs
  3. 1 2 Appearances in the Scottish Challenge Cup

Honours

Club

Dunfermline Athletic

Individual

References

  1. 1 2 "Player of the month awards". dafc.co.uk. 13 September 2015. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
  2. ↑ "First Team Squad – Faissal El Bakhtaoui". dafc.co.uk. Dunfermline Athletic F.C. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  3. ↑ "EL BAKHTAOUI SIGNS". Dundee. 2 August 2016. Retrieved 2 August 2016.
  4. 1 2 "Manager on Tuesday". dafc.co.uk. Dunfermline Athletic FC. 31 July 2012. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  5. ↑ "Stranraer 2–1 Dunfermliney". SPFL. SPFL. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  6. ↑ "Dunfermline 3–0 Stranraer". SPFL. SPFL. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  7. ↑ "Dunfermline's Faissal El Bakhtaoui hoping for tilt at Old Firm". Neil Robertson. The Courier. 27 August 2015. Archived from the original on 19 September 2015. Retrieved 13 September 2015.
  8. 1 2 "SPFL monthly awards". www.spfl.co.uk. Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 13 September 2015.
  9. 1 2 "Dunfermline: Johnston and El Bakhtaoui win March awards". BBC Sport. BBC. 5 April 2016. Retrieved 18 July 2016.
  10. 1 2 McLaughlin, Brian (26 March 2016). "Dunfermline 3 – 1 Brechin City". BBC Sport. BBC. Retrieved 18 July 2016.
  11. ↑ Sutherland, Jonathan (7 May 2016). "Motherwell make offer for Dunfermline striker Faissal EL Bakhtaoui". BBC Sport. BBC. Retrieved 18 July 2016.
  12. ↑ Kennedy, Liam (20 May 2016). "Dunfermline's El Bakhtaoui on Dundee FC summer radar". Evening Telegraph. DC Thomson & Co Ltd. Retrieved 18 July 2016.
  13. ↑ Fisher, Stewart (22 April 2016). "Faissal El Bakhtouai: Dunfermline has been great for me but I feel ready to step up to a Premiership club". Herald Scotland. Herald & Times Group. Retrieved 18 July 2016.
  14. ↑ Collin, Iain (2 May 2016). "Faissal El Bakhtaoui takes swipe at Dunfermline manager Allan Johnston over last-day snub". Capital City Press. Deadline News. Retrieved 18 July 2016.
  15. ↑ Wheelock, Paul (15 July 2016). "Blackburn Rovers take out-of-contract Dunfermline Athletic striker Faissal El Bakhtaoui on trial". Lancashire Telegraph. Newsquest. Retrieved 18 July 2016.
  16. ↑ "El Bakhtaoui Signs". dundeefc.co.uk. Dundee FC. 2 August 2016. Retrieved 2 August 2016.
  17. ↑ "Faissal El Bakhtaoui: Dundee sign striker on three-year deal". BBC Sport. BBC. 2 August 2016. Retrieved 2 August 2016.
  18. ↑ Roache, Ian (2 August 2016). "Dundee move quickly to replace Kane Hemmings with ex-Dunfermline striker Faissal El Bakhtaoui". The Courier. DC Thomson Co Ltd. Retrieved 2 August 2016.
  19. ↑ Dowden, Martin (6 August 2016). "Ross County 1–3 Dundee". BBC Sport. BBC. Retrieved 19 August 2016.
  20. ↑ Wilson, Richard (13 August 2016). "Dundee 1–2 Rangers". BBC Sport. BBC. Retrieved 19 August 2016.
  21. ↑ "Dundee 1–1 Hamilton Academical". BBC Sport. BBC. 19 August 2016. Retrieved 19 August 2016.
  22. ↑ "Faissal El Bakhtaoui: Dunfermline sign striker on loan from Dundee". BBC Sport. BBC. 12 July 2018. Retrieved 12 July 2018.
  23. ↑ Faissal El Bakhtaoui at Soccerbase
  24. ↑ "Games played by Faissal El Bakhtaoui in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  25. ↑ "Games played by Faissal El Bakhtaoui in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  26. ↑ "Games played by Faissal El Bakhtaoui in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  27. ↑ "Games played by Faissal El Bakhtaoui in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  28. ↑ "Games played by Faissal El Bakhtaoui in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  29. ↑ "Games played by Faissal El Bakhtaoui in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  30. 1 2 "Games played by Faissal El Bakhtaoui in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 12 July 2018.
  31. ↑ "Leigh Griffiths: Celtic forward named PFA Scotland Player of the Year". BBC Sport. 1 May 2016. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
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