Eljif Elmas

Eljif Elmas
Ељиф Елмас
Elmas playing for Napoli in 2021
Personal information
Date of birth (1999-09-24) 24 September 1999
Place of birth Skopje, Macedonia
Height 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)
Positions
Team information
Current team
 Atalanta
(on loan from RB Leipzig)
Number 99
Youth career
2004–2013 FK Vardar
2013–2015 Rabotnički
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2015–2017 Rabotnički 44 (7)
2017–2019 Fenerbahçe 34 (4)
2019–2024 Napoli 143 (14)
2024– RB Leipzig 16 (0)
2025 → Torino (loan) 13 (4)
2025–2026 → Napoli (loan) 33 (1)
2026– → Atalanta (loan) 1 (0)
International career‡
Macedonia U17 2 (0)
2015–2018 Macedonia U19 13 (2)
2016–2017 Macedonia U21 9 (1)
2017– North Macedonia 79 (13)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 23:04, 24 May 2026 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals as of 23:52, 1 June 2026 (UTC)

Eljif Elmas (Macedonian: Ељиф Елмас; born 24 September 1999) is a Macedonian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or wide midfielder for Serie A club Atalanta, on loan from Bundesliga club RB Leipzig. He also plays for the North Macedonia national team.

Club career

Early career

Elmas started his career at FK Rabotnički in his native North Macedonia. After a stand-out season in which he scored six league goals and led 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.[1] The attacking midfielder went on to score four goals in over 40 appearances for the Yellow Canaries in all competitions before moving to Italy in July 2019.[1]

Napoli

On 24 July 2019, Serie A club Napoli announced the signing of Elmas from Fenerbahçe.[2] The deal was worth a reported €16 million, which could rise to €19 million in total with bonuses – including a €1.5 million sell-on fee clause.[1] 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.[3]

Elmas scored his first Napoli goal on 3 February 2020 in a 4–2 victory against Sampdoria, helping the club securing its third win in a row in all competitions.[4] On 19 December 2021, he scored the winning goal for Napoli in a narrow away victory against AC Milan, taking over second place in Serie A.[5] Elmas went on to win the Scudetto with Napoli in 2023, the club's third title, and the first claimed outside of the Diego Maradona era.[6]

RB Leipzig

On 27 December 2023, Bundesliga club RB Leipzig announced that Elmas would join the club on 1 January 2024, upon the opening of the winter transfer window, signing a four-and-a-half-year contract.[7] The transfer fee paid by the Germans was reported as €23 million by German sports magazine Kicker.[8]

Loan to Torino

On 30 January 2025, Elmas returned to Italy, joining Torino on loan with an option to buy.[9]

Loan to Napoli

On 1 September 2025, Elmas returned to Napoli, this time on loan till the end of the 2025–26 season, with an option to buy for €16 million.[10]

International career

Elmas was born in Macedonia (now North Macedonia) to a family of Turkish descent.[11][12][13] In July 2017, it was reported that then-coach of the Turkey national football team, Fatih Terim, had tried to call him up, but Elmas decided to represent his birth country.[14]

Elmas was also included in the Macedonia U21 squad for the 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship in Poland, being the youngest footballer in the 23-man squad.[15] On 11 June 2017, at the age of 17, Elmas debuted for the Macedonian senior squad in a FIFA World Cup qualifier against Spain as a half-time substitute for Ostoja Stjepanović.[16]

On 31 March 2021, Elmas scored the winning goal for North Macedonia in a 2–1 away victory against Germany during the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification.[17] The same year in November 2021, Elmas scored a brace in a 3–1 victory against Iceland, helping the team secure a runners-up spot in Group J, leading North Macedonia to a World Cup play-off.[18]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 24 May 2026[19]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[a] Europe Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Rabotnički 2015–16 Macedonian First League 111———111
2016–17 Macedonian First League 3360021—357
Total 4470021—468
Fenerbahçe 2017–18 Süper Lig 5020——70
2018–19 Süper Lig 294209[b]0—404
Total 3444090—474
Napoli 2019–20 Serie A 261505[c]0—361
2020–21 Serie A 332416[b]01[d]0443
2021–22 Serie A 373108[b]4—467
2022–23 Serie A 3661010[c]0—476
2023–24 Serie A 112005[c]000162
Total 143141113441018919
RB Leipzig 2023–24 Bundesliga 140—2[c]0—160
2024–25 Bundesliga 20103[c]0—60
2026–27 Bundesliga 000000—00
Total 1601050—220
Torino (loan) 2024–25 Serie A 134———134
Napoli (loan) 2025–26 Serie A 331207[c]02[d]0441
Career total 282301815653036036
  1. ↑ Includes Turkish Cup, Coppa Italia, DFB-Pokal
  2. 1 2 3 Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Appearances in UEFA Champions League
  4. 1 2 Appearance(s) in Supercoppa Italiana

International

As of match played 1 June 2026[20]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
North Macedonia[a]
201730
201850
2019104
202040
2021155
202290
2023103
202491
2025100
202640
Total7913
  1. ↑ North Macedonia was known as Macedonia until 2019
As of match played 1 June 2026
Scores and results list North Macedonia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Elmas goal.[20]
List of international goals scored by Eljif Elmas
No. Date Venue Cap Opponent Score Result Competition
1 21 March 2019Toše Proeski Arena, Skopje, North Macedonia9 Latvia2–03–1UEFA Euro 2020 qualification
2 3–1
3 10 October 2019Toše Proeski Arena, Skopje, North Macedonia15 Slovenia1–02–1UEFA Euro 2020 qualification
4 2–0
5 28 March 2021Toše Proeski Arena, Skopje, North Macedonia24 Liechtenstein4–05–02022 FIFA World Cup qualification
6 31 March 2021MSV-Arena, Duisburg, Germany25 Germany2–12–12022 FIFA World Cup qualification
7 1 June 2021Toše Proeski Arena, Skopje, North Macedonia26 Slovenia1–01–1Friendly
8 14 November 2021Toše Proeski Arena, Skopje, North Macedonia37 Iceland2–13–12022 FIFA World Cup qualification
9 3–1
10 23 March 2023Toše Proeski Arena, Skopje, North Macedonia47 Malta1–02–1UEFA Euro 2024 qualification
11 16 June 2023Toše Proeski Arena, Skopje, North Macedonia49 Ukraine2–02–3UEFA Euro 2024 qualification
12 12 September 2023National Stadium, Ta' Qali, Malta52 Malta1–02–0UEFA Euro 2024 qualification
13 10 October 2024Skonto Stadium, Riga, Latvia63 Latvia3–03–02024–25 UEFA Nations League C

Honours

Napoli

References

  1. 1 2 3 Sarigul, Emre (23 July 2019). "Fenerbahce Confirm €16m Eljif Elmas Transfer To Napoli, Fee Could Reach €19m – Financial Details Revealed". Turkish Football. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
  2. ↑ "Napoli, ufficializzato l'acquisto di Elmas a titolo definitivo". SSC Napoli (in Italian). 24 July 2019. Archived from the original on 2 November 2019. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
  3. ↑ "Napoli ready to punish Elmas for speaking to the media". Goal. 16 November 2019. Archived from the original on 4 February 2020. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
  4. ↑ "Demme and Elmas help resurgent Napoli beat Sampdoria". France24. 3 February 2020. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
  5. ↑ "Elmas grabs win for Napoli in Milan after VAR drama as Cádiz hold Real Madrid". The Guardian. 19 December 2021.
  6. ↑ "Napoli seal first Italian football league title in 33 years". Al Jazeera English. 5 May 2023. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
  7. ↑ "Eljif Elmas to join RB Leipzig in January 2024!". RB Leipzig. 27 December 2023. Retrieved 24 May 2025.
  8. ↑ "Perfekt: Napolis Elmas wechselt zu RB Leipzig" [Perfect: Napoli's Elmas joins RB Leipzig]. Kicker (in German). 27 December 2023. Retrieved 24 May 2025.
  9. ↑ "Elmas al Toro" [Elmas to Toro]. Torino FC (in Italian). 30 January 2025. Retrieved 30 January 2025.
  10. ↑ "Official: Elmas returns to Napoli in agreement worth up to €18m". OneFootball.com. 1 September 2025. Retrieved 1 September 2025.
  11. ↑ "Eljif Elmas kimdir? Eljif Elmas, Türkiye Milli Takımı'nda oynayabiliyor mu?". Sporx (in Turkish). 17 July 2017. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
  12. ↑ "Muriç ve Eljif neden Türk Milli Takımı'nı tercih etmedi?". fenerkolik.org (in Turkish). Retrieved 16 March 2021.
  13. ↑ "Şekip Mosturoğlu: Fatih Terim, Eljif Elmas'ı milli takıma çok istedi". Milliyet (in Turkish). 30 June 2020. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
  14. ↑ "Eljif Elmas kimdir? Eljif Elmas, Türkiye Milli Takımı'nda oynayabiliyor mu?". sporx.com (in Turkish). 17 July 2017.
  15. ↑ Благоја Милевски ги избра седуммината од генерацијата 1996/97 за ЕП во Полска (in Macedonian). Football Federation of Macedonia. 5 June 2017. Archived from the original on 23 January 2023. Retrieved 24 May 2025.
  16. ↑ Bulatović, Vladimir (11 June 2017). Елмас дебитира за Македонија со 17 години... (Фото + видео) [Elmas debuted for Macedonia at 17 years old... (Photo + Video)]. Ekipa Macedonia (in Macedonian).
  17. ↑ Popovski, Zoran (1 January 2022). "Македонскиот маратонец Елиф Елмас | Одигра 70 натпревари во 2021 година, само тројца во Европа се пред него (Фото)" [Macedonian marathoner Elif Elmas | He played 70 games in 2021, only three in Europe are ahead of him (Photo)]. Sport Manija (in Macedonian).
  18. ↑ Елиф, Елиф, Елиф... Македонија повторно води! (видео) [Elif, Elif, Elif... Macedonia leads again! (video)]. Sport Sport (in Macedonian). 14 November 2021.
  19. ↑ "E. Elmas". Soccerway. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
  20. 1 2 "Eljif Elmas". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
  21. ↑ "Napoli win Serie A for first time in 33 years". BBC Sport. 4 May 2023. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
  22. ↑ "Coppa: Napoli beat Juventus on penalties". Football Italia. 17 June 2020. Archived from the original on 23 July 2020.
  23. ↑ "Italian Super Cup: Napoli beat Bologna as David Neres scores twice". BBC Sport. 22 December 2025. Retrieved 22 December 2025.
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