Elif Elmas

Elif Elmas (Елиф Елмас; born 24 September 1999) is a Macedonian professional footballer who plays for Bundesliga club RB Leipzig and the North Macedonia national team. A versatile player, Elmas can be deployed as a central midfielder, right midfielder, winger or forward.

Early career
Elmas started his career at FK Rabotnički in his native Macedonia. After a stand-out season in which he scored six league goals and led Rabotnički to a third-place finish in the Macedonian First Football League in 2016–17, he joined Turkish giants Fenerbahçe on a deal until 2022, with Fenerbahçe paying the former €300,000 for his services. The attacking midfielder went on to score four goals in over 40 appearances for the Yellow Canaries in all competitions before moving to Italy in July 2019.

Napoli
On 24 July 2019, Serie A side S.S.C. Napoli announced the signing of Elmas from Fenerbahçe. The deal was worth a reported €16 million, which could rise to €19 million in total with bonuses – including a €1.5 million sell-on fee clause. He was disciplined by his new club after speaking to reporters while away on international duty in November 2019 for breaching a club media blackout.

Elmas scored his first Napoli goal on 3 February 2020 to help the club to a 4–2 victory over Sampdoria, and secure their third win in a row in all competitions.

On 19 December 2021, Elmas scored the winner for Napoli in a narrow away win against AC Milan, taking over second place in Serie A.

Elmas went on to win the Scudetto with Napoli in 2023, the club's third title, and the first claimed outside of the Diego Maradona era.

RB Leipzig
On 27 December 2023, Bundesliga club RB Leipzig announced that Elmas would join the club on 1 January 2024, upon the opening of the winter transfer window, signing a four-and-a-half-year contract. The transfer fee paid by the Germans was reported as €23 million by German sports magazine Kicker.

International career
Elmas was born in Macedonia (now North Macedonia) to a family of Turkish descent. In July 2017, it was reported that then-coach of the Turkey national football team, Fatih Terim, had tried to call him up, but Elmas decided to represent his birth country.

Youth
Elmas was also included in the Macedonia U21 squad for the 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship in Poland, and he was in fact the youngest one in the 23-player squad.

Senior
On 11 June 2017, at the age of 17, Elmas debuted for the Macedonian senior squad in a FIFA World Cup qualifier against Spain by coming in at halftime as a substitute for Ostoja Stjepanović.

On 31 March 2021, he scored the winning goal for North Macedonia in a 2–1 away win over Germany during the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification. The same year in November 2021, Elmas scored a brace in a 3–1 victory against Iceland, helping team secure a runners-up spot in Group J, leading North Macedonia to a World Cup play-off.

International

 * Scores and results list North Macedonia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Elmas goal.

Honours
Napoli
 * Serie A: 2022–23
 * Coppa Italia: 2019–20