Achraf Lazaar

Achraf Lazaar (Arabic: أشرف لزعر‎; born 22 January 1992) is a Moroccan international footballer, who plays as a left midfielder or left back in Italy for Cosenza on loan from Newcastle United.

Achraf Lazaar
Personal information
Date of birth (1992-01-22) 22 January 1992
Place of birth Casablanca, Morocco
Height 184 cm (6 ft 0 in)
Playing position(s) Left back
Club information
Current team
 Cosenza
Number 3
Youth career
Raja Casablanca
2009–2012 Varese
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2012–2014 Varese 37 (0)
2014–2016 Palermo 73 (3)
2016– Newcastle United 4 (0)
2017–2018 → Benevento (loan) 9 (1)
2019 → Sheffield Wednesday (loan) 4 (0)
2019– → Cosenza (loan) 7 (1)
National team‡
2014– Morocco 17 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 15 May 2020 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 20:16, 2 November 2017 (UTC)

Club career

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]

International career

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.[8][9] 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
As of match played 20 May 2018[10]
Club Season League Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Varese 2012–13 Serie B 20021——221
2013–14 Serie B 17030——200
Total 37051——421
Palermo 2013–14 Serie B 14000——140
2014–15 Serie A 29210——302
2015–16 Serie A 30110——311
2016–17 Serie A 0010——10
Total 73330——763
Newcastle United 2016–17 Championship 403020—90
2017–18 Premier League 001000—10
Benevento (loan) 2017–18 Serie A 91–––91
Career total 123412120001375

References
  1. "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 2014-01-19. 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. "Palermo: Achraf Lazaar acquisisce cittadinanza italiana". Mediagol (in Italian). 2015-04-07. Retrieved 2018-05-28.
  9. "Lazaar diventa cittadino italiano". VareseNews (in Italian). 2015-05-04. Retrieved 2018-05-28.
  10. "A. LAZAAR". Soccerway. Retrieved 25 April 2017.
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