Eljif Elmas (; born 24 September 1999) is a Macedonian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays for German club

RB Leipzig RasenBallsport Leipzig e.V. (), commonly known as RB Leipzig or informally as Red Bull Leipzig, is a German professional association football, football club based in Leipzig, Saxony. The club was founded in 2009 by the initiative of the company ...

and the North Macedonia national team. A versatile footballer, he can be deployed as a

central midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

right midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

, winger or forward.

Club career

Early career

Elmas started his career at

FK Rabotnički FK Rabotnichki () or more commonly Rabotnički (old transliteration) and Rabotnicki is a professional football (soccer), football club that plays at the Toše Proeski Arena, Toshe Proeski Arena in Skopje, North Macedonia. They currently compete in ...

in his native 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 The Macedonian First Football League (), also called Macedonian First League, 1. MFL, and Prva Liga, is the highest professional football competition in Macedonia. It is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of ...

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 on to score four goals in over 40 appearances for the Yellow Canaries in all competitions before moving to Italy in July 2019.

Napoli

On 24 July 2019,

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

club

Napoli Naples ( ; ; ) is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its province-level municipality is the thir ...

announced the signing of Elmas from Fenerbahçe. 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. 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. Elmas scored his first Napoli goal on 3 February 2020 in a 4–2 victory against

Sampdoria Unione Calcio Sampdoria, commonly referred to as Sampdoria (), is an Italian professional football club based in Genoa, Liguria. Sampdoria was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the ...

, helping the club securing its third win in a row in all competitions. On 19 December 2021, he scored the winning goal for Napoli in a narrow away victory against

AC Milan (), commonly referred to as Milan or AC Milan () mainly outside of Italy, is an Italian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Founded in 1899, the club competes in the Serie A, the top tie ...

, taking over second place in Serie A. Elmas went on to win the

Scudetto The ''scudetto'' (; Italian for 'little shield') is a decoration having the colors of the flag of Italy which is sewn onto the jersey of the Italian sports clubs that won the highest level championship of their respective sport in the previous ...

with Napoli in 2023, the club's third title, and the first claimed outside of the

Diego Maradona Diego Armando Maradona Franco (30 October 196025 November 2020) was an Argentine professional association football, football player and manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, he was one of the two ...

era.

RB Leipzig and loan to Torino

On 27 December 2023,

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

club

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. The transfer fee paid by the Germans was reported as €23 million by German sports magazine

Kicker Kicker or The Kicker may refer to: Sports * Placekicker, a position in American and Canadian football * ''Kicker'' (magazine), sports magazine in Germany * Kicker, the German colloquial term for an association football player * Kicker, the wor ...

. On 30 January 2025, Elmas returned to Italy, joining

Torino Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

on loan with an option to buy.

International career

Elmas was born in Macedonia (now North Macedonia) to a family of Turkish descent. In July 2017, it was reported that then-coach of the

Turkey national football team The Turkey national football team (), recognized as Türkiye by FIFA and UEFA, represents Turkey in men's international Association football, football matches. The team is controlled by the Turkish Football Federation (), the governing body for ...

Fatih Terim Fatih Terim (born 4 September 1953) is a Turkish people, Turkish professional Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former player. He is the manager of Saudi Pro League club Al Shabab FC (Riyadh), Al-Shabab ...

, had tried to call him up, but Elmas decided to represent his birth country. Elmas was also included in the Macedonia U21 squad for the

2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship The 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship (also known as UEFA Under-21 Euro 2017) was the 21st edition of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship, a biennial international youth association football, football championship organised by UEFA for ...

in Poland, being the youngest footballer in the 23-man squad. On 11 June 2017, at the age of 17, Elmas debuted for the Macedonian senior squad in a FIFA World Cup qualifier against

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

as a half-time substitute for

Ostoja Stjepanović Ostoja Stjepanović (; born 17 January 1985) is a Macedonian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Club career Stjepanović agreed to join the Partizan youth system from Makedonija Gjorče Petrov at age 16. He would make h ...

. On 31 March 2021, Elmas scored the winning goal for North Macedonia in a 2–1 away victory against

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

during the

2022 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification was the FIFA World Cup qualification, qualifying process which decided the 31 teams that would join hosts Qatar national football team, Qatar, who received an automatic spot, at the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Par ...

. 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.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list North Macedonia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Elmas goal.''

Honours

Napoli *

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

Coppa Italia Coppa Italia () is the annual domestic cup of Italian football. The knockout competition was organized by the DDS and the Lega Calcio until the 2009–10 season and by Lega Serie A ever since. Juventus is the competition's most successf ...

: 2019–20

References

External links

Profile
at RB Leipzig's website
Profile at Macedonian Football

Profile
at sport.de * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Elmas, Eljif 1999 births Living people Footballers from Skopje Macedonian people of Turkish descent Men's association football midfielders Men's association football wingers Macedonian men's footballers 21st-century Macedonian sportsmen North Macedonia men's youth international footballers North Macedonia men's under-21 international footballers North Macedonia men's international footballers FK Rabotnichki players Fenerbahçe S.K. footballers SSC Napoli players RB Leipzig players Torino FC players Macedonian First Football League players Süper Lig players Serie A players Bundesliga players UEFA Euro 2020 players Macedonian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Macedonian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Macedonian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Macedonian expatriate sportspeople in Germany