Rayane Bounida

Rayane Bounida

Personal information
Date of birth	(2006-03-03) 3 March 2006 (age 18)
Place of birth	Vilvoorde, Belgium[1]
Height	1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s)	Attacking midfielder
Team information
Current team	Jong Ajax
Youth career
	KFC Vilvoorde
	OH Leuven
0000–2022	Anderlecht
2022–	Ajax
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2024–	Jong Ajax	5	(4)
International career^‡
2021–2022	Belgium U16	16	(3)
2022–2023	Belgium U17	7	(1)
2023–2024	Belgium U18	6	(3)
2024–	Belgium U19	7	(2)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 20 January 2025 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 19 November 2024

Rayane Bounida (born 3 March 2006) is a Belgian-Moroccan footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for the Eerste Divisie team Jong Ajax, the reserve team of Ajax.[1] He has been touted as the next big thing since 2014. At the time of his 16th birthday, he had a contract with Nike and more than 420,000 followers on Instagram.[2]

Club career

Bounida played with the youth teams of Anderlecht, and regularly was featured in international media as the new big talent from a very young age.[3][4][5] On his sixteenth birthday it was announced that he would sign a professional contract with Dutch team Ajax, for a rumoured €700,000 per year.[2][6] Many major European teams were interested in signing the young player, including Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain.[7]

On 9 December 2024, Bounida made his senior debut for Ajax's reserve team Jong Ajax in the second-tier Eerste Divisie game against De Graafschap. He came on as a subtitute in the 86th minute and scored Jong Ajax's second goal in added time in a 2–0 victory.[8] He scored 4 goals in his first 5 Jong Ajax games, moving to the starting line-up by late January.[9]

International career

Bounida has played for the Belgium U16 national team, scoring 4 goals in 16 matches, for the Belgium U17, scoring 1 goal in 7 matches and for the Belgium U18 scoring 3 goals in 4 matches.[10]

Notes

1. Rayane Bounida at WorldFootball.net
2. "De (feest)dag die iedereen bij Anderlecht vreesde: het verlies van "uniek talent" Rayane Bounida" (in Dutch). Sporza.be. 3 March 2022. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
3. "The Wonderful Talent of 9-Year Old Moroccan Prodigy Rayane Bounida". Moroccoworldnews.com. 6 September 2015. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
4. "Toptalentje (13) Anderlecht nu al wereldberoemd, net als Shane en Xavi". RTL Nieuws. 10 April 2019. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
5. Chenevas-Paule, Loïc (11 November 2015). "Découvrez Rayane Bounida, la nouvelle pépite d'Anderlecht" (in French). TF1. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
6. Franken, Christophe (2 March 2022). "Rayane Bounida, l'enfant de 48 kilos qui demandait 700 000 € par an, va fêter ses 16 ans et signera à l'Ajax en fin de saison" (in French). La Dernière Heure. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
7. Doering, Christian (3 March 2022). "Super-Talent (16) forderte 700.000 Euro pro Jahr" (in German). Sportbild. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
8. "Jong Ajax v De Graafschap game report". Soccerway. 9 December 2024.
9. "Jong Ajax v Jong PSV game report". Soccerway. 20 January 2025.
10. "RAYANE BOUNIDA" (in French). Royal Belgian Football Association. Retrieved 4 March 2022.