Photo The Guardian
Photo The Guardian

Perhaps the 21-year-old Elmas is a long way from reaching the heights of Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi. But this summer he will have the perfect stage to demonstrate his quality against the elite of European football, with Macedonia pitted against the Netherlands, Ukraine and Austria in Group C. Read on to know more about the young football player:

Elif Elmas’s Biography

In one of the most dangerous parts of the capital city, Skopje, in the multi-ethnic municipality of Cair in which Macedonians, Albanians, Turks and Roma lived side-by-side, Elmas was born on 24 September 1999 to a family of Turkish descent. His father, Xhevat, ran a sweet shop. Now, 20 years later, Elmas has become the figurehead of a North Macedonia team that has united the country as never before.

Through those unpredictable years Elif grew up with a love of football allied to a desire to help his father with the family business. Not many people know that Elif can make the most beautiful traditional Macedonian cakes. Had he not become a footballer, he almost certainly would have continued the family tradition in the sweet shop, but football won.

He started playing football aged seven in the neighbourhood club Fenerbahçe Tefejuz. Coincidentally, 11 years later he would sign for the Turkish giants Fenerbahçe. But before that he began to learn his trade at a football school run by Jovce Dzipunov, one of North Macedonia’s most famous players.

He's got a brother and a sister who are younger than him. Their names are unknown, but we know that he loves them to bits.

Does Elif Elmas have a girlfriend?

He is currently single. He is not dating anyone. We don't have much information about He's past relationship and any previous engaged.

Elif Elmas’s 2021 Salary & Net Worth

Photo Takvim
Photo Takvim

In July 2019 the midfielder signed a contract with S.S.C. Napoli that nets him a whopping salary of 1.9 Million Euro (1.6 Million Pound) per year. We have crunched the numbers, this means he earns €5,206 (£4,384) per day and €217 (£183) per hour!

Net Worth: 1.2 Million Euro (1 Million Pound)

Market Value: 17 Million Euro (14.4 Million Pound)

He's only 22 but is already worth about 1.2 million Euros. His current market value is 17 million Euros.

Elif Elmas’s Football Career

Elif Elmas: Before Fame

His youth career began by playing for the Rabotnichki club. He was moved up to the clubs first team in 2015 where he began his professional career. After several matches with the Macedonia under 17, 19, and 21 clubs, he began playing for the Macedonia first team in 2017.

Italy is becoming more open to the idea of recruiting footballing talent from lesser-known countries in the world. The fact that Serie A is not the top league in the World in terms of money has begun to sink in. Clubs like Napoli are looking at value options in countries like North Macedonia, and that's how they discovered our midfielder here. He was playing in the Turkish League with Fenerbahçe when Napoli found him. This 20-year-old plays as a central midfielder, but he's more suited in an advanced role. Nicknamed Spider for his long legs, he's got the flair of a South American player. His feel for the ball and his ball control skills are commendable. He has a good long shot and could be aggressive on the pitch, which is why he has been playing as a number 8, or sometimes even as a number 6 in Naples. Born in Skopje, Macedonia, to parents of Turkish origin, he began playing football with Rabotnički. It was only logical that some Turkish team would notice him. It was Fenerbahçe, which eventually landed him in Italy with Napoli. Eligible to play for Turkey too, he chose to represent the country of his birth instead, North Macedonia, after having donned their colors as a youth player.

Elif Elmas’s Football Career Timeline

2020

Elmas scored his first Napoli goal on 3 February 2020 to help the club to a 4–2 victory over Sampdoria, and secure their third win in a row in all competitions.

2019

On 24 July 2019, Serie A side S.S.C. Napoli announced the signing of Elmas from Fenerbahçe. The deal was worth a reported €16m, which could rise to €19m in total with bonuses – including a €1.5m sell-on fee clause. He was disciplined by his new club after speaking to reporters while away on international duty in November 2019 for breaching a club media blackout.

2017

Elmas was born in Macedonia to a family of Turkish descent. In July 2017 it was reported the coach of the Turkey national football team, Fatih Terim, had tried to call him up, but Elmas decided to represent his birth country.

On 11 June 2017, at the age of 17, Elmas made his debut for the Macedonia national team in a FIFA World Cup qualifier against Spain by coming in at halftime as a substitute for Ostoja Stjepanović.

Elmas was also included in the Macedonia U21 squad for the 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship in Poland, and he was in fact the youngest one in the 23 players squad.

Photo SkySports
Photo SkySports

2016

Elmas started his career at FK Rabotnički in his native Macedonia. After a stand-out season in which he scored 6 leagues goals and lead Rabotnički to a third place finish in the Macedonian First Football League in 2016–17, he joined Turkish giants Fenerbahçe on a deal until 2022, with Fenerbahçe paying the former €300,000 for his services. The attacking midfielder went onto score four goals in over 40 appearances for the Yellow Canaries in all competitions before moving to Italy in July 2019.

Igor Angelovski, now the head coach of the national team, was managing FC Rabotnicki at the time. Angelovski approached Elmas’s family and it was agreed the then 12-year-old would play for Rabotnicki’s youth teams. Fast-forward three years and the ability of the 15-year-old Elmas attracted the attention of Heerenveen in the Netherlands, and a preliminary contract was agreed for Elmas’s signature when he turned 18.

In 2017 Elmas’s profile was raised even further when he travelled to the Under-21 European Championships in Poland – the greatest achievement by the national team at any level up to that point. The head coach, Bobi Milevski, built a talented team including players such as Enis Bardhi, Boban Nikolov, Visar Musliu and Darko Velkovski – all of whom are important members of the senior side that will play at Euro 2020. Aged 17, Elmas was the youngest player by far in Macedonia’s squad that travelled to the Under-21 tournament in Poland and he played in all three matches as they lost to Spain and Portugal and drew 2-2 with Serbia.

Following Elmas’s displays in Poland, clubs of the calibre of Manchester City, Borussia Dortmund and Fenerbahçe had entered the race to sign him. Fenerbahçe won it, with Rabotnicki paid €300,000 in compensation. Pero Antic, the first Macedonian basketballer to play in the NBA and then with Fenerbahçe, helped broker the deal, with Elmas signing a five-year contract. Elmas means “diamond” in Turkish and Fenerbahçe had their precious signing.

“There was some strange kind of magic in him,” Angelovski says. “An unbelievable energy, an X-factor at such young age that attracted everyone. An excellent reading of the game, a master of assists and a phenomenal finish.”

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