Rayane Bounida

Rayane Bounida (born 3 March 2006) is a Belgian-Moroccan footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for the youth of Dutch team AFC Ajax.[1] He has been touted as the next big thing since 2014, despite not having played a professional game yet. At the time of his 16th birthday, he had a contract with Nike and more than 420,000 followers on Instagram.[2]

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]

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.[8]

Notes

  1. ^ Rayane Bounida at WorldFootball.net
  2. ^ a b "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. ^ "RAYANE BOUNIDA" (in French). Royal Belgian Football Association. Retrieved 4 March 2022.