Rabat – Italian football club Juventus has announced the signing of a four-year contract with Dutch club PSV Eindhoven for Moroccan-Dutch football player Mohamed Amine Ihattaren.
Reports suggest, however, that the 19-year-old attacking midfielder will not immediately feature in Juventus’s squad for this season. Instead, Juventus is reported to have been in talks with fellow Italian club Sampdoria for a one-season loan deal.
Juventus is yet to confirm the news on loaning the midfielder to Sampdoria, however.
Ihattaren, who has been ranked in the past two years among the most promising players coming out of Dutch football academies, made 74 appearances at PSV and scored 10 goals.
In November 2019, the football player chose the Netherlands over Morocco after months of speculation about his international career.
Moroccans were unhappy with Ihattaren’s choice, and there have been reports that some in the Moroccan community in the Netherlands vented their frustration by insulting and harassing the young footballer.
In response to the heavy criticism his choice generated in Moroccan circles, the football player said he felt it is necessary to continue playing with the Oranje, the Ducth national football team, because it made more sporting sense to him.
“I played for the Netherlands for the under 14s [team] and I won the European Championship with the Under-17 team with the Oranje. It’s good that I can continue,” Ihattaren said in justification of his decision.
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