Who would have thought his career would take this turn!
Ex-Herthan Hany Mukhtar (27) is currently taking off – in the USA. The Berliner has been named Player of the Week in Major League Soccer (plays for Nashville SC) for the fourth time in his career.
It has been two years since Mukhtar made his debut for MLS side Nashville and since then the attacking midfielder has scored 34 goals and provided 17 assists in 70 games. According to official information, no other footballer in the North American professional league has won the election so often with votes from journalists and fans.
How could this happen?
Mukhtar spent his youth at Hertha, where he was considered a promising talent and was also one of THE DFB’s young hopes. He shot the U19s under coach Marcus Sorg (56) to European champions in 2014. In the final against Portugal, the number 7 scored the decisive goal (1-0 final score). Former players included Joshua Kimmich (Bayern), Julian Brandt (BVB) and Niklas Stark (Werder).
Foto: Bongarts/Getty Images
” data-zoom-src=”https://bilder.bild.de/fotos/hany-mukhtar-l–im-duell-mit-portugals-gelson-martins-im-finale-der-u19-em-2014 -3550602228ed456d8471b1b68327f4c3-80534596/image/3.image.jpg”/> U19 European Championship final 2014: Hany Mukhtar (left) in a duel with Portugal’s Gelson MartinsFoto: Bongarts/Getty Images
However, he never achieved a breakthrough. The capital club sold him in 2015 and Mukhtar moved to Benfica in Portugal for 500,000 euros. But even then things were anything but smooth – first a loan to RB Salzburg, then he went to Danish club Brondby, who also signed him in 2017 for a fee of 1.5 million euros. In January 2020 the move to the USA – and suddenly the DFB hope for young talent at the time got going again.
Mukhtar scored his third brace of the season last Saturday and now has eight goals in 17 games. His total of 13 points is the shared best in the league. According to MLS figures, Mukhtar has had more goal contributions than any other player since the start of last season. And his club? He is in fifth place in the Western Conference after 17 of 34 main round games. There’s more!
