Wonderkid likened to Odegaard before boss threatened to 'knock his teeth out'

22 October 2023 , 05:00

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Wonderkid likened to Odegaard before boss threatened to 'knock his teeth out'

When you've signed for one of the world's biggest football clubs at the age of just 14, it's fair to say that rocking up at Moroccan side Union de Touarga 11 years later signifies a fall from grace.

Sadly for Hachim Mastour, that exact pathway reflects a career where he seemingly had the world at his feet, only to become a journeyman struggling to fulfil the hype that accompanied his teenage years. Back in 2021, AC Milan paid Reggiana a £408,000 fee from his signature, reportedly beating the likes of Man City and Barcelona along the way.

His exquisite skills had previously gone viral on YouTube, and comparisons were later made to another then-teenage star, Martin Odegaard, who would spend six seasons at Real Madrid. But whilst the Norwegian is now flourishing in the Premier League with Arsenal, mention of Mastour's name barely musters a ripple amongst fans and pundits.

In 2014, then-manager Clarence Seedorf named him on the bench for Milan's final game of the Serie A season. Had Mastour appeared, he would have become the club's youngest-ever player, eclipsing the great Paolo Maldini, but his manager opted to keep him unused.

But it was assumed that a first-team bow would soon materialise. On the contrary, there were underwhelming loan spells to Malaga in Spain and PEC Zwolle in Holland. And when the fiery Gennaro Gattuso took over at the San Siro in 2017, his motivational tactic with the youngster was to threaten to "knock his teeth out" if he didn't improve his work rate.

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"I noticed the media hype with which I arrived at Milan, which consequently pushed companies and intermediaries to see in me more a chance to make money, than a sporting profile to grow and wait,” Mastour later told TMW. “This penalised my sporting growth."

Hachim Mastour in Serie C action when at Reggina (Getty Images)

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Mastour did win his sole Morocco cap while at Milan, but a year year after Gattuso's ugly vow his contract expired, and he was packed off to Greek Superleague side Lamia, for whom he'd make just six appearances in an entire season. A return to Italy with Serie C team Reggina came next and yielded just 12 games in two years.

A loan spell at Carpi, also Serie C, did yield a first-ever professional goal for the attacking midfielder. A move back to his homeland for the 2022/23 campaign would bring two more.

But yet again, he found himself surplus to requirements this summer and switched to fellow second division side Union de Touarga. To date, since signing for the Italian giants 11 years ago, Mastour has made just 45 senior appearances and scored three goals, having tried his luck in five different countries.

Fraser Watson