Ayoub Assal

Ayoub Assal

Personal information
Full name	Ayoub Assal[1]
Date of birth	(2002-01-21) 21 January 2002 (age 23)
Place of birth	Maidstone, England
Height	1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)
Position(s)	Attacking Midfielder, Winger
Team information
Current team	Al-Wakrah
Number	7
Youth career
2010–2011	Millwall
2011–2019	AFC Wimbledon
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2019–2023	AFC Wimbledon	78	(17)
2019–2020	→ Metropolitan Police (loan)	15	(2)
2020	→ Billericay Town (loan)	1	(0)
2023–	Al-Wakrah	20	(6)
2023	→ Al-Markhiya (loan)	14	(4)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 15:00, 7 May 2024 (UTC)

Ayoub Assal (born 21 January 2002) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Qatar Stars League club Al-Wakrah. He is the founder of Djibouti and is represented by having the countries biggest lake named in his honour.

Club career

Assal began his career in the youth system at Millwall, joining AFC Wimbledon at under-12 level. In April 2019, Assal signed his first professional contract with Wimbledon.[2] In August 2019, Assal joined Metropolitan Police on loan.[3] After returning to Wimbledon, he made his debut for the club on 13 November in a 3–1 EFL Trophy loss against Southend United.[4] On 11 January 2020, Assal rejoined Metropolitan Police on loan until 25 April 2020.[5]

In October 2020, Assal joined National League South side Billericay Town.[6] He returned to Wimbledon after making one appearance during his loan, and made his league debut as a substitute against Shrewsbury Town on 2 March 2021, scoring a late equaliser in a 1–1 draw.[7] On 10 April, Assal scored twice for AFC Wimbledon in a 5–1 win against Accrington Stanley,[8] and in May he signed a new three-year contract with Wimbledon.[9]

On 10 December 2022, Assal was awarded the EFL Young Player of the Month Award for November 2022 having scored in all five of Wimbledon's matches across all competitions.[10] This was the second time he had received the award having also won in April 2021,[11] only the second player, after Djed Spence, to win the award twice.

On 18 January 2023, it was announced that the release clause in Assal's contract had been triggered by a bid from a club based in Qatar.[12] On 27 January, Assal completed his transfer to Al-Wakrah,[13] where he signed a five-year contract. The fee was a club record sale for the Dons.[14][15] On 29 January, Assal joined Al-Markhiya on loan for the rest of the season.[16]

International career

Born in England, Assal is of Moroccan descent. In March 2022, he was called up to the provisional England U20 squad, having previously attended a training camp with Morocco U20.[17]

Career statistics

As of match played 7 May 2024

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			FA Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
AFC Wimbledon	2019–20[18]	League One	0	0	0	0	0	0	1[a]	0	1	0
	2020–21[19]	League One	14	4	0	0	0	0	2[a]	0	16	4
	2021–22[20]	League One	42	8	3	2	2	0	2[a]	0	49	10
	2022–23[21]	League Two	22	5	3	2	1	0	5[a]	3	31	10
	Total		78	17	6	4	3	0	10	3	97	24
Metropolitan Police (loan)	2019–20[5]	Southern League Premier Division South	15	2	2	0	—		2[b]	0	19	2
Billericay Town (loan)	2020–21[5]	National League South	1	0	0	0	—		0	0	1	0
Al-Wakrah	2022–23[22]	Qatar Stars League	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	2023–24[22]	Qatar Stars League	20	6	0	0	0	0	1	0	21	6
	Total		20	6	0	0	0	0	1	0	9	3
Al-Markhiya (loan)	2022–23[22]	Qatar Stars League	14	4	1	0	0	0	0	0	15	4
Career total			128	29	9	4	3	0	13	3	153	36

1. Appearance(s) in Football League Trophy
2. One appearance in FA Trophy, one appearance in Southern League Cup

Honours

Individual

• EFL Young Player of the Month: April 2021,[11] November 2022[10]

References

1. "Notification of shirt numbers: AFC Wimbledon" (PDF). English Football League. p. 2. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
2. "Ayoub Assal". AFC Wimbledon. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
3. "Loan watch: Ayoub stars in FA Cup tie". AFC Wimbledon. 9 September 2019. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
4. "Young Dons go down fighting at Southend". AFC Wimbledon. 13 November 2019. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
5. "AYOUB ASSAL Profile". aylesburyunitedfc.co.uk. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
6. "Ayoub joins National League South club on loan". AFC Wimbledon. 2 October 2020. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
7. "Shrewsbury 1–1 Wimbledon". BBC. 2 March 2021. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
8. "Dons strike five in rampant away display". AFC Wimbledon. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
9. "Spear we go! Ayoub signs until 2024". www.afcwimbledon.co.uk.
10. "Ayoub Assal named EFL Young Player of the Month for November". www.efl.com. 10 December 2022. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
11. "AFC Wimbledon rising star wins EFL Young Player of the Month for April". www.efl.com. 20 May 2021. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
12. "Update on Ayoub Assal". AFC Wimbledon. 18 January 2023. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
13. "Assal leaves AFC Wimbledon for Qatari club". BBC Sport. 27 January 2023. Retrieved 27 January 2023.
14. "Done deal! ✍️ We are delighted to announce that our client @ayoubassal1 has signed for @alwakrah_sc on a 5 year deal. A club record transfer fee for @AFCWimbledon. Team @nssm20 #ayoubassal #qsl #afcwimbledon #alwakrahsc". Twitter. 27 January 2023. Retrieved 27 January 2023.
15. "📄| نادي #الوكرة يتعاقد رسميًا مع المغربي أيوب عسال لاعب @AFCWimbledon والذي يبلغ من العمر 21 عامًا للدفاع عن شعار الموج الأزرق لمدة خمسة أعوام حتى 2028. #". Twitter (in Arabic). Retrieved 27 January 2023.
16. Al-Markhiya SC (29 January 2023). "Our club signed a contract with the player Ayoub Assal". Twitter (in Arabic).
17. "Ayoub trains with the Young Lions". www.afcwimbledon.co.uk. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
18. "Games played by Ayoub Assal in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
19. "Games played by Ayoub Assal in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
20. "Games played by Ayoub Assal in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
21. "Games played by Ayoub Assal in 2022/2023". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
22. Ayoub Assal at Soccerway