Mohamed Ihattaren's Remarkable Comeback at Fortuna Sittard

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 comeback. Two goals, one assist, a 3-2 win. A stadium reminded of what he once promised to become.

The second goal told the story. With Fortuna clinging to their lead, Ihattaren pounced on a defensive mistake, drove past his marker and unleashed a fierce left-footed strike. The ball crashed off the underside of the crossbar and dropped over the line. A ruthless finish. A decisive moment. As The National (UAE) reported, that strike effectively settled the contest.

He now has three goals and two assists from his first five matches of the new season. Fortuna, a club more used to looking over their shoulder than up the table, sit fourth. The numbers are starting to stack up again.

Regular minutes, at last

This resurgence did not appear out of nowhere. The 2025/26 campaign quietly laid the foundations. Ihattaren played 28 league games for Fortuna that season, scoring six times and providing 10 assists. Not spectacular by his early hype, but crucial: a full season, rhythm, responsibility. After years of interruptions, controversy and false starts, he finally stayed on the pitch.

Fortuna coach Danny Buijs has been at the heart of this rebuild. Working with Ihattaren for 15 months, he has tried to shield his player from the noise. Speaking to ESPN, Buijs made it clear he wants to keep the spotlight under control, arguing that Ihattaren must concentrate on his football and do his work away from the glare if he is to reach his targets.

The message is simple: less talk, more minutes.

From PSV prodigy to football’s wilderness

For Dutch football followers, Ihattaren’s name still carries a sharp echo of what might have been. Born in Utrecht, he exploded onto the scene at PSV, a teenager with elegance on the ball and vision beyond his years. In 2019, at just 17, he produced such a performance against Ajax that former Netherlands international Pierre van Hooijdonk called him the best player on the pitch.

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, and his form and focus never quite looked the same.

The next years turned into a maze. He left PSV in 2021 for Juventus on a four-year deal, a move that was supposed to launch him onto the European stage. Instead, his career stalled. On loan at Sampdoria, he did not play a single match. A subsequent spell at Ajax ended without the club making the transfer permanent. In 2023, a move to Turkish side Samsunspor collapsed, and at Slavia Prague he did not log a single minute of competitive football.

From future of the Oranje to football’s wilderness in just a few seasons. The fall was as swift as the rise.

A new identity – and a new direction?

Now the story is shifting again. On the pitch in Sittard, he is finally stringing games together, driving his team up the table and reminding scouts and supporters of that left foot, that weight of pass, that ability to decide matches.

Off the pitch, his international future has taken a different turn. In 2025, Ihattaren announced that he wants to represent Morocco at senior level. He had previously worn the shirt of the Netherlands at youth level, but has yet to debut for the senior national team of either country. The choice hints at a fresh start, a new flag to chase, a different path to the top.

For now, though, the focus is local and immediate. Fortuna Sittard have a playmaker in form, a talent once thought lost now driving their attack. If he keeps striking the underside of crossbars and deciding tight games, the question will not be whether Ihattaren is back.

It will be how far – and how fast – he can go this time.