Mehdi Léris

Mehdi Pascal Marcel Léris (مهدي باسكال مارسيل ليريس; born 23 May 1998) is a professional footballer who plays as a right winger or right wing-back for club Stoke City. Born in France, he represents the Algeria national team.

Léris began his career with French club Stade Montois before joining Italian Serie A side Chievo in 2013. After a brief loan spell with Juventus' youth team, he made his Serie A debut for Chievo in 2017. In August 2019 he joined Sampdoria for a fee of €2.5 million. He spent five years at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris, spending the 2021–22 season with Brescia. In the summer of 2023 he moved to English side Stoke City.

Chievo
Léris caught the eye of Italian club Chievo in an amateur showcase tournament in Paris in 2013 whilt playing for his home town club Stade Montois, and thereafter joined the youth academy of the team. Léris moved on loan to Juventus with an option to buy for a year, becoming a part of the youth squad without making an appearance for the senior team. Léris returned to Chievo, and made his professional debut with them in a 3–0 Serie A loss to Juventus on 9 September 2017. After making four appearances in 2017–18, he played 24 times in 2018–19 as Chievo suffered financial difficulties and were relegated to Serie B. He scored his first senior goal on 5 December 2018 in a 2–1 defeat against Cagliari in the Coppa Italia.

Sampdoria
On 12 August 2019, Léris signed a five-year deal with Sampdoria for a fee of around €2.5 million. He made 16 appearances in 2019–20, scoring once in a 1–1 draw with Brescia in the final match of the campaign. In 2020–21, Léris made 22 appearances as Sampdoria finished in ninth place. On 18 August 2021, he joined Serie B side Brescia on loan for the 2021–22 season. He was a regular in the side helping them reach the semi-finals of the play-offs where they were defeated by AC Monza. He returned to Sampdoria for the 2022–23 season, playing 35 times as the Stadio Luigi Ferraris side endured a terrible campaign winning only three matches and were relegated to Serie B.

Stoke City
On August 22, 2023, Léris joined EFL Championship club Stoke City on a three-year contract for an undisclosed fee. He scored on his full debut for Stoke on 29 August 2023 in a 6–1 win against Rotherham United in the EFL Cup. His first goal in the Championship came on 30 September 2023 in a 3–2 win against Bristol City. In the 2023–24 season, Léris made 33 appearances of which 18 were starts as Stoke successfully avoided relegation, finishing in 17th position.

International career
Leris was called up to the Algeria national team for a set of friendlies in November 2022. He debuted with them in a 1–1 friendly tie with Mali on 16 November 2022.

Personal life
Léris was born in Mont-de-Marsan, France to a French father of Spanish descent and an Algerian mother. Léris' father, Yannick, is a former amateur footballer and a U16 football coach in France.