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Rabat – Morocco international footballer Hamza Mendyl has officially joined the Belgian club Oud-Heverlee Leuven from Germany’s Schalke 04.
Mendyl has signed a three-season contract with the Belgian club and is the seventh newcomer to Leuven in this transfer window.
The Belgian club announced the news on Twitter on Tuesday, with the club’s coach Marc Brys welcoming Mendyl’s arrival and highlighting that the Moroccan is a “great talent with experience in major competitions at an international level.”
Brys further described the 24-year-old left-back as a “fast and agile player who is strong in the build-up.”
The Moroccan footballer also took to Instagram to happily announce his transfer, writing, “OH Leuven is a great club and a good step for me. I immediately clicked with the trainer when I spoke to him. Hopefully we can achieve beautiful things together.”
Mendyl’s contract at Schalke would have run until 2023 if he didn’t leave for the Belgian club.
Upon the Moroccan’s departure from Schalke 04, the Sporting Director of the German club, Rouven Schroder, said: “We have openly communicated that we do not see Hamza’s future at Schalke. That’s why the change is the best solution for all sides from a sporting and economic point of view.”
A Moroccan with Ivorian roots, Mendyl started his professional career in Morocco before joining France’s LOSC Lille in 2016.
In Lille, he entered the club’s famous academy where he worked his way up to the first team through Lille B.
Mendyl played 31 matches in France’s Ligue 1 before being transferred to Schalke 04 in 2018 where he played 21 matches, including six in the UEFA Champions League.
He was then loaned to France’s Dijon (2019-2020) and Turkey’s Gaziantepspor (2021-2022), where he played 22 games in the Turkish top-tier division last season.
The left-back also has 20 appearances with Morocco’s national team, but has not been called up since November 2020.
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