Mohamed Ihattaren's Resurgence at Fortuna Sittard: A Career Rebuilding
Mohamed Ihattaren is back in the spotlight – and this time, it is for the right reasons.
In the Netherlands, the 24-year-old attacking midfielder is piecing his career back together at Fortuna Sittard, and on nights like this against ADO Den Haag, it looks like quite a story in the making. Two goals, one assist, and a 3-2 win: Ihattaren didn’t just influence the match, he dragged it his way.
A match decided by a moment of brilliance
Fortuna edged past ADO Den Haag in a tight, breathless encounter, and Ihattaren stood at the centre of almost everything. His contribution to all three goals underlined both his talent and his growing importance to Danny Buijs’ side.
The decisive moment came with his second goal. As reported by The National (UAE), it was the strike that effectively killed off ADO’s resistance. A defensive mistake offered him a glimpse; he seized it. Ihattaren skipped past his marker, opened up his body and whipped a left-footed effort that crashed off the underside of the crossbar and bounced over the line. A ruthless finish, the kind of execution that once had Europe’s biggest clubs circling.
By the final whistle, Fortuna had their 3-2 victory. Ihattaren had his statement performance.
That display continues a strong start to the new season: three goals and two assists in five matches. Fortuna, fuelled by his resurgence, have climbed to fourth in the table. It is still early, but the club suddenly looks upward rather than over its shoulder.
Regular football at last
The numbers behind this revival did not appear out of nowhere. In the 2025/26 campaign, Ihattaren finally strung together a full season of league football. He featured in 28 Eredivisie matches, scoring six goals and laying on 10 assists. After years of stops and starts, controversy and absence, those 28 appearances mattered almost as much as the goals.
For the first time in a long time, he played regularly. Week after week. That rhythm has carried into this season and is now visible in the sharpness of his touches and the confidence in his decisions.
Fortuna coach Danny Buijs, who has worked with him for 15 months, knows exactly how fragile that progress can be. Speaking to ESPN, Buijs made it clear he wants to shield his player from the noise. He stressed that Ihattaren needs to keep his attention on football, to work quietly and consistently, away from the glare, if he is to reach the level his talent promises.
It is a deliberate strategy: less hype, more minutes.
From PSV prodigy to lost years
To understand why this version of Ihattaren feels so significant, you have to go back to where it began.
Born in Utrecht, he burst onto the scene at PSV as one of the brightest prospects in Dutch football. In 2019, at just 17, he lit up a clash with Ajax so vividly that former Netherlands international Pierre van Hooijdonk called him the best player on the pitch. That kind of praise does not come lightly in a fixture like that.
Then life intervened in the harshest way. The death of his father in October 2019 hit him deeply. Ihattaren later described his father as “everything” to him. His form, his focus, his trajectory – all of it felt the impact.
The next phase of his career turned turbulent. He left PSV in 2021 and signed a four-year deal with Juventus, a move that should have launched him into the elite. Instead, it unravelled. A loan to Sampdoria produced not a single appearance. A spell at Ajax ended without the Amsterdam club making the transfer permanent. In 2023, a move to Turkish side Samsunspor collapsed, and he did not play a minute for Slavia Prague.
From future star to footballing exile, the fall was swift.
A new path – and a new flag?
Now, in Sittard, the story reads differently. He is not yet back at the very top, but he is back on the pitch, and that alone changes the conversation.
Off the field, another chapter is still unwritten. In 2025, Ihattaren announced that he wants to represent Morocco at international level. He came through the Netherlands youth teams but has yet to debut for the senior side of either country. His choice, when it finally becomes reality, will say a lot about where he feels his future and identity lie.
For now, though, the answers are coming on the grass. Every clean touch, every threaded pass, every left-footed strike off the bar and in poses the same question: after everything, how far can Mohamed Ihattaren go this time?
