Former AC Milan Wonderkid Hachim Mastour Now Struggles in Serie C

"At 14, the best clubs in Europe wanted me. I chose AC Milan. The video of my first youth match with Milan went viral on YouTube and that’s when the buzz really started. I saw it as a good thing, the whole world could see my football! I was very happy, I signed with Nike, I made a video with Neymar... (He beat the Brazilian in a technical challenge that accumulated 10 million views.) At 16, I was with the first team, alongside extraordinary players: Robinho, Kaká, Balotelli... At the same age, I discovered the national team (in June 2015, he became the youngest Moroccan international, at 16 years and 363 days). An amazing period. Everyone was talking about me, I was a star. There were a lot of expectations on me in every match. I loved that pressure," Hachim Mastour said in an interview with L’Équipe.

The young player was the center of attention, and becoming a social media star as a teenager did him more harm than good. "The spotlight came too early. I was young, I didn’t see the dangers. When you’re a teenager and haven’t played in the first team yet, it can be dangerous. On social media, you don’t have the right mentality: you have to show off, prove yourself, you live for others. It’s not reality. Today, it’s part of young footballers’ lives, but back then, no. I was the first. I had no example to base myself on, no one could advise me, warn me. I was a crash test dummy. I paved the way for others," he explains, stating that "social media stole my childhood a bit, I realized I grew up without a single friend. Even today, I don’t have any friends."

The Moroccan international (1 cap), who will turn 27 this Sunday, June 15, expresses regrets: "I wasn’t well surrounded. People and the system saw me as a money-making machine, not as a boy who wants to realize his dream. Contracts, money, visibility... I only thought about football. People around me only talked to me to profit from my talent or my image. I believed in them. In reality, I was their puppet, they didn’t really love me. For example, in 2016, after my loan to Malaga, I was very close to Paris Saint-Germain. The president talked a lot with my father. But it fell through because some people wanted to kill my career because I had left them. This buzz was cool, but I ended up forgetting my own life. I didn’t grow up normally..."

After four seasons at Milan (2014-2018) where he revealed himself, Hachim Mastour sank in other clubs (Lamia, Reggina, Carpi) and in the Moroccan national team. "I never found my place. If I made mistakes, I have no problem saying it. I always had a professional behavior, a good mentality. Maybe I made bad choices. I probably went too fast. If I had progressed step by step, my career would surely have been different..." confided the number 10 who is followed by "a mental coach, with whom I work a lot on my mindset and emotions, because I experienced a moment of depression. These difficult moments taught me that in this life, you have to be a man before being a footballer."

The young footballer now focuses on his future, he who "has just spent a season without a club, after [his] return from Morocco (at Union Touarga, in D2)". The former AC Milan player is confident that he can still reach the heights of world football. "I continue to improve. The flame is still there. I feel I still have something to do and say in football," he assured. The one who has just signed with Virtus Verona in Serie C "hopes to find the right club to progress, enjoy football, and meet a coach who can be like a spiritual father. I need it to finally launch my career. I’m 26, I don’t set limits, ultimately, I still dream of playing the Champions League, the World Cup..."