Achraf Lazaar


Achraf Lazaar is a Moroccan international footballer, who plays as a left midfielder or left back in Italy for Cosenza on loan from Newcastle United.

Club career

Born in Casablanca, Lazaar moved to Italy with his parents in 2003. He began his football career with Varese's youth system, at the age of fifteen. He went on to make his senior debut with the team in Serie B, in 2012, immediately emerging as one of the most interesting prospects from the small Lombardian team.
In January 2014, he was signed by top of Serie B Palermo, on loan with the option to make the move permanent by the end of the season. Initially signed as an understudy to the more experienced Fabio Daprelà, Lazaar immediately gained a starting spot thanks to his impressive performances. He was later permanently signed by Palermo and confirmed as part of the club's 2014–15 squad.
On 28 August 2016, Lazaar joined Newcastle United on a five-year deal. He made his debut in a 2–0 win in the EFL Cup against Wolverhampton Wanderers on 20 September 2016. His league debut took place when he came on as a 72nd-minute substitute for Yoan Gouffran against Brentford on 15 October 2016. On 31 August 2017 Lazaar returned to Italy with a loan to Benevento. On 31 January 2019 Lazaar joined Sheffield Wednesday on loan until the end of the season.
On 2 September 2019, he joined Italian Serie B club Cosenza on loan.

International career

Having been born in Morocco Lazaar is eligible to play for Morocco by birth, but until 2015 was ineligible to play for Italy despite having been raised there. He holds Italian citizenship since April 2015. He had originally never stated a clear preference to represent Morocco or Italy, instead declaring he would play for the first international team that showed a genuine interest in calling him up. His impressive Serie B performances with Palermo brought interest from the Moroccan national team, who called him up for a friendly match against Mozambique on 23 May 2014 and ended in a 4–0 win, during which he made his first senior international appearance.

Career statistics