Mohamed Ihattaren: A Footballer Reborn in the Netherlands
Mohamed Ihattaren is starting to look like a footballer reborn in the Netherlands – and Fortuna Sittard are riding that resurgence.
On a tense afternoon against ADO Den Haag, the 24-year-old attacking midfielder dragged Fortuna to a 3-2 win, scoring twice and laying on an assist in a performance that felt like a statement, not a cameo.
The decisive moment came with his second goal. With Fortuna clinging to their lead, Ihattaren pounced on a defensive mistake, glided past his marker and unleashed a fierce left-footed strike. The ball crashed off the underside of the crossbar and bounced over the line – the kind of finish that carries both technique and a hint of anger. As The National (UAE) reported, that goal effectively killed the contest.
It capped another productive outing in what is fast becoming a quietly impressive start to the new season. Ihattaren now has three goals and two assists from his first five matches, numbers that have helped push Fortuna up to fourth in the table. For a club more used to looking over its shoulder than up the standings, his influence is already obvious.
A long road back
This is not a sudden explosion. The 2025/26 campaign had already signalled a turning point. Ihattaren featured in 28 league games for Fortuna, scoring six times and providing 10 assists. More than the stats, it was the continuity that stood out. After years of interruptions, absences and false starts, he finally strung together a full season of regular football.
Fortuna coach Danny Buijs, who has worked with him for 15 months, is determined not to let the noise overwhelm the work. Speaking to ESPN, Buijs made it clear he wants to shield Ihattaren from excessive public attention, arguing that the playmaker needs to concentrate on his football and build quietly, away from the glare, if he is to reach his potential.
The approach makes sense. Ihattaren’s story has never been just about what happens between the white lines.
From PSV prodigy to football’s wilderness
Born in Utrecht, Ihattaren burst onto the scene at PSV as one of the brightest prospects in Dutch football. In 2019, at just 17, he produced such a commanding display against Ajax that former Netherlands international Pierre van Hooijdonk called him the best player on the pitch. It felt, then, like the start of a straightforward rise to the top.
Life intervened. The death of his father in October 2019 hit him hard. Ihattaren later described his father as “everything” to him, and his trajectory on the field began to mirror the turmoil off it.
In 2021, he left PSV and signed a four-year deal with Juventus, a move that was supposed to elevate his career to the elite level. Instead, it unravelled. A loan to Sampdoria produced not a single appearance. A subsequent spell at Ajax ended without the Amsterdam club making his stay permanent.
The pattern continued. In 2023, a proposed move to Turkish side Samsunspor collapsed. At Slavia Prague, he did not play a single minute. For a player once tipped as the future of the Dutch national team, the slide was stark.
A new identity, a new direction?
Now back in the Eredivisie with Fortuna and finally playing consistently, Ihattaren is also reshaping his international ambitions. In 2025, he declared his intention to represent Morocco at senior level. He had previously turned out for the Netherlands’ youth teams but has yet to debut for the senior side of either country.
That decision adds another layer to a career that has already contained more twists than most players face in a decade. For now, though, the focus sits squarely in Sittard.
Two goals, one assist, three points, and a club suddenly looking upwards. If this is the version of Mohamed Ihattaren that Fortuna can keep on the pitch, how far can this revival really go?
