Rayane Bounida

Rayane Bounida
Personal information
Date of birth (2006-03-03) 3 March 2006 (age 18)
Place of birth Vilvoorde, Belgium
Height 1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Attacking midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Jong Ajax
Youth career
KFC Vilvoorde
OH Leuven
–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. 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.

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. 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. Many major European teams were interested in signing the young player, including Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain.

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. He scored 4 goals in his first 5 Jong Ajax games, moving to the starting line-up by late January.

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.

Notes

  1. ^ a b 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. ^ "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.