Soufiane "Sofian" Chakla (; born 2 September 1993) is a Moroccan 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 ...

who plays as a

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for Azerbaijan Premier League club

Sabah Sabah () is a state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah borders the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and the North Kalimantan province of Indonesia to the south. The Federal Territory ...

Club career

Born in

Kenitra Kenitra ( ar, القُنَيْطَرَة, , , ; ber, ⵇⵏⵉⵟⵔⴰ, Qniṭra; french: Kénitra) is a city in north western Morocco, formerly known as Port Lyautey from 1932 to 1956. It is a port on the Sebou River, Sebou river, has a popul ...

, Chakla moved to Spain at the age of eight, and joined

Málaga CF Málaga Club de Fútbol (, ''Málaga Football Club''), or simply Málaga, is a football club based in Málaga, Andalusia, Spain, that competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league system. They won the UEFA Intert ...

's youth setup in 2010. He made his debut as a senior with the reserves in 2012, in

Tercera División Tercera División ( en, Third Division) was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the ''Segunda División'', and the semi-professional ''Segunda Di ...

. On 27 January 2014, Chakla rescinded with the

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a "historical nationality". The ...

ns and moved to another

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...

, Real Betis B also in the fourth tier. On 11 July he signed for Hungarian club

Videoton FC Videoton may refer to: *Videoton (company) Videoton, or officially VIDEOTON HOLDING Ltd. is a Hungarian privately-owned company group based out of Székesfehérvár Székesfehérvár (; german: Stuhlweißenburg ), known colloquially as Fehér ...

. Chakla made his professional debut on 2 November 2014, starting in a 1–0 home win against

Budapest Honvéd FC Budapest Honvéd Football Club (), commonly known as Budapest Honvéd or simply Honvéd, is a Hungarian sports club based in Kispest, Budapest, with the colours of red and black. The club is best known for its association football, football team ...

. However, he only appeared in six matches during the whole campaign, and was subsequently released. On 23 September 2015, after failed trials at

Sporting Gijón Sporting may refer to: *Sport, recreational games and play *Sporting (neighborhood), in Alexandria, Egypt Sports clubs *AC Sporting, a football club from Beirut, Lebanon *Alexandria Sporting Club, a sports club from Alexandria, Egypt *Real Sportin ...

, Chakla joined

Segunda División B Segunda División B ( en, Second Division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish Fo ...

club

La Roda CF La Roda Club de Fútbol is a Spanish football club based in La Roda, in the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha. Founded in 1999 it plays in Segunda División B – Group 4, holding home games at ''Estadio Municipal de Deportes'', which ...

. The following 25 August he moved to fellow league team

CD El Ejido 2012 Club Polideportivo El Ejido 1969 is a Spanish football club based in El Ejido, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1989 under the name of El Ejido Fútbol Sala (was only a futsal club until 2012), it currently plays in Segunda D ...

. On 31 May 2017, Chakla signed for

UD Almería B Unión Deportiva Almería "B" is a Spanish football team based in Almería, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 2001, it is the reserve team of UD Almería and currently plays in Tercera Federación – Group 9, holding home ...

in the fourth tier, mainly as a replacement to injured Igor Engonga. On 16 July of the following year, after helping the

ns in their

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

, he moved to third division side

UD Melilla Unión Deportiva Melilla is a Spanish football team based in the autonomous city of Melilla. Founded in 1976, it currently plays in Segunda División RFEF – Group 5, holding home matches at '' Estadio Municipal Álvarez Claro'', with a 8,000 cap ...

on a 2+1 contract. On 17 July 2019, Chakla signed for

Villarreal CF Villarreal Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. ( ca-valencia, Vila-real Club de Futbol, S.A.D.), usually abbreviated to Villarreal CF or simply Villarreal, is a professional football club based in Villarreal, in the Castellón province of eastern Spain, ...

; initially assigned to the reserves in division three, he was definitely promoted to the main squad on 27 January 2020. He made his

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men' ...

debut on 19 June, starting in a 1–0 away win against

Granada CF Granada Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. (), known simply as Granada, is a Spanish football club based in the city of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, that plays in the Segunda División, after being relegated from La Liga in the 2021 ...

. On 30 January 2021, Chakla joined

Getafe CF Getafe Club de Fútbol (), or simply Getafe, is a professional football club based in Getafe, a city in the Community of Madrid. The team competes in La Liga, the highest tier of the Spanish football system. The club's home stadium (owned and op ...

on loan for the remainder of the 2020–21 season. In August 2021, he moved to Belgian side

Oud-Heverlee Leuven Oud-Heverlee Leuven (), also called OH Leuven or OHL, is a Belgian association football, football club from the city of Leuven. It was created in 2002 from the merger of three clubs, ''F.C. Zwarte Duivels Oud-Heverlee'', whose registration num ...

. On 18 January 2023, Chakla returned to Spain after agreeing to a contract with

SD Ponferradina Sociedad Deportiva Ponferradina, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Ponferrada, in the El Bierzo region, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded on 7 June 1922, it plays in Segunda División, holding home matches at t ...

in the second level.

International career

He made his debut for

Morocco national football team The Morocco national football team,french: Équipe du Maroc de football nicknamed "the Atlas Lions", represents Morocco in men's international football competitions. It is controlled by the Royal Moroccan Football Federation, also known as FRMF ...

on 30 March 2021 in a 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Burundi.

Career statistics

Club

International

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chakla, Sofian 1993 births Living people People from Kenitra Moroccan men's footballers Men's association football defenders La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Atlético Malagueño players Betis Deportivo Balompié footballers La Roda CF players CD El Ejido players UD Almería B players UD Melilla footballers Villarreal CF B players Villarreal CF players Getafe CF footballers Nemzeti Bajnokság I players Fehérvár FC players Oud-Heverlee Leuven players SD Ponferradina players Moroccan expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Hungary Moroccan expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Moroccan expatriate sportspeople in Spain Moroccan expatriate sportspeople in Hungary Morocco men's under-20 international footballers Morocco men's international footballers 2021 Africa Cup of Nations players