Eljif Elmas to join RB Leipzig in January 2024!

Welcome to Leipzig, Eljif!

Eljif Elmas will join RB Leipzig from SSC Napoli on 1st January 2024. The 24-year-old has signed a four-and-a-half-year contract until June 2028 and will wear the number 6 shirt for RBL.

The midfielder will travel to the training camp in La Magna with the rest of the squad on 2nd January 2024.

Get to know our new man

This is Eljif Elmas!

Sporting director Rouven Schröder

“By securing the signing of Eljif Elmas, we’ve managed to fill an important position in our attack following Emil Forsberg’s departure. We’ve been monitoring Eljif for a while because he’s an exciting prospect. He looks like the full package, will be a perfect fit for the team personality-wise and he’ll be able to help the team straightaway with his quality.
Eljif’s technical ability is amazing. He’s nimble, loves to run and dribble, and can score goals. He can play down the middle, but is equally comfortable on both wings.
He’ll bring something different to our game with his skills, since he’s very good at beating his man thanks to his acceleration and physicality. He always looks to get the ball forward.
Despite the fact that he’s only 24, he’s played in Italy and Turkey and has a lot of international experience with North Macedonia. He’s also won two big trophies. That’s why we’re so happy to have signed him. Now, it’s a case of making sure that Eljif settles into the team quickly over the short winter break.”

New arrival Eljif Elmas

“Moving to the Bundesliga and joining RB Leipzig is the stuff of dreams for me. The club is known for the special football they play. They like gegenpressing, play with pace and have a strong attack. All of that suits me down to the ground. The team is a cool mix of young talents, who can improve a lot here, and players who’ve experienced and achieved a lot in their long spells at the club. That’s why moving to Leipzig is the right step for me and I’m looking forward to meeting everyone in January.
RB Leipzig have established themselves as one of the top teams in the Bundesliga and have become a big name in European football in a very short period of time. When I spoke to Rouven Schröder and Marco Rose, I realised very quickly – I want to play for this club!
We’ve got a tricky second half of the season. I want to help us stay right in the mix of things at the top of the Bundesliga and potentially cause an upset against Real Madrid in the Champions League.”

Senior debut at 16 | Almost 50 European games

Eljif Elmas came through the academy of four-time North Macedonian champions Rabotnički Skopje and made his senior debut for the side on 4th October 2015 aged just 16. He played in his first European game nine months later, as he made an appearance in the Europa League qualifiers.
The 24-year-old has made 45 appearances in continental competitions so far in his career, scoring five goals and setting up another. 20 of those were in the Champions League for SSC Napoli.

Italy via Turkey

After quickly developing into one of Skopje’s key players and leaders despite being so young, Elmas moved to Turkish club Fenerbahçe in July 2017. He initially played for the U23 side because of his age, before making his senior debut for the club in January 2018.
He played 45 times and bagged five goals in his one-and-a-half-year spell at Fenerbahçe. Elmas’ continuous improvement caught SSC Napoli’s attention and he made the switch to Italy in summer 2019. He was handed his Serie A debut by Carlo Ancelotti on 24th August 2019, before playing his first Champions League game against Liverpool on 17th September. To cap off an excellent 2019, he was also named North Macedonian Footballer of the Year.

Silverware with SSC

Elmas scored 19 goals and registered 11 assists in his 189 competitive appearances for Napoli. Following the Blues’ Coppa Italia win in 2019/20, Elmas picked up his most prestigious piece of silverware yet, as Napoli won the Scudetto in 2022/23.
In the title-winning campaign, Elmas played 36 games, scoring six times and setting up three goals. This season, he played 11 Serie A games and made five UCL appearances for the Neapolitan side before his move to RB Leipzig.

International success

Eljif Elmas has played at every age level for North Macedonia. On 11th June 2017, he made his debut for the senior side aged 17 and has made a further 55 appearances for his country. One of Elmas’ 12 international goals came in a memorable victory for North Macedonia. He scored the winner in their European qualifier against Germany on 31st March 2021.
When North Macedonia participated in EURO 2020, Elmas played the full 90 minutes in all three of their group games.

PLAYER PROFILE

Name:
Eljif Elmas
Date of birth:
24th September 1999
Age:
24
Place of birth:
Čair (North Macedonia)
Nationality:
North Macedonian
Shirt number:
6
Preferred foot:
Right
Height:
1.82m
Position:
Midfield

CAREER PATH

from 01/2024:
RB Leipzig
07/2019 until 12/2023:
SSC Napoli
07/2017 until 07/2019:
Fenerbahçe
10/2015 until 07/2017:
FK Rabotnički Skopje

Youth clubs:

Fenerbahçe Tefejuz, FK Rabotnički Skopje, SC Heerenveen

STATISTICS

Serie A (Italian top flight):
143 games | 14 goals | 10 assists
Süper Lig (Turkish top flight):
34 games | 4 goals
Prva liga (North Macedonian top flight):
44 games | 7 goals | 8 assists
Coppa Italia (Italian Cup):
11 games | 1 goal
Türkiye Kupasi (Turkish Cup):
4 games | 1 assist
UEFA Champions League:
20 games
UEFA Europa League:
21 games | 4 goals | 1 assist
International football (for North Macedonia):
54 games | 12 goals | 11 assists