Hachim Mastour has lifted the lid on his time at AC Milan and explained why the hype that surrounded him only contributed to pressure which he struggled to deal with.
There was a time when Mastour was the most talked about player in the AC Milan academy, and yet his story is sadly one of a player that never really reached the levels that he suggested he would when he was a teenager.
He began his career at Reggiana where he was born and caught the eye of Milan, signing for the Rossoneri for €500,000 at the age of 14. He was sent on a two-year loan to Málaga but it was terminated earlier, then a loan to PEC Zwolle followed.
It was when he left permanently for Greek side Lamia that the Milan dream was over. He would return to Italy to play for Reggina and Carpi in Serie C, then heading to Morocco, and at 26 years of age he is currently without a club having left his last team in Morocco when his deal expired.
Mastour spoke to MilanNews about his story as a Milan player including why it didn’t go to plan and the lessons that he was able to take from it.
Hachim, you have been away from Italy in the last two years…
“I was in Morocco, first playing in Serie B in the team of my mother’s hometown [Renaissance Zemamra]. I was the team captain, we won the league. Then I played in the top league, for the King’s team [Union Touarga].
“I had a great time, I take many things with me in my personal baggage. I learned a lot at a group level and learned new game dynamics. On an environmental level then I discovered my parents’ country of origin, learned the Arabic language well.
“In Malaga I had learned Spanish and in other foreign experiences [PEC Zwolle and PAS Lamia] English. For me it was a further enrichment.”
Where are you at now?
“I have had requests from the United Arab Emirates. Personally, I would like to return to the Italian league, which is the most important for me. I dream of fulfilling myself in this country where I was born, raised and which I am in love with.”
Is there a feeling of revenge towards Italy?
“I wouldn’t say so, if anything my desire is dictated by the fact that in Italy there is a culture of football of the highest level, for this reason I would like to return to play there.
“We won the C in Reggio Calabria and I had the chance to play in Serie B. Then Sandro Pochesci called me to Carpi, he wanted me as an attacking midfielder in his system.
“He made me feel important and I thank him wholeheartedly. I judge these two experiences in a positive way.”
Since leaving Carpi it has been difficult to find information about you…
“I have been on a journey with myself, a personal journey to find the inner peace that in these years had been lost for various reasons. This journey has been very useful to me, I am a different type of person on an inner level. Stopping for a few months has helped me to gain awareness and maturity.”
In a recent interview you talked about depression, from which you thankfully emerged…
“It was a period that brought me closer to faith. I lived an important spiritual journey that helped me get out of it. Today I feel good, if before I was only Hachim the footballer now I am Hachim the person and there is a Hachim Mastour the footballer. I have learned to separate the two things, an essential theme.”
In the world of football, many players have fallen into the vortex of depression. For you, the constant pressure since you were a teenager must have been difficult to bear?
“Those who are part of this profession have to live with this pressure. Of course, many bad things have been said about me. A label was stuck on me, an image that I was trying to escape from.
“I had lost the smile when playing, I had found coaches who had a different vision than mine. I am a playmaker, maybe they wanted a different profile or tried to change my way of playing
“. I have experienced my own personal struggle. It is part of the journey and having suffered humanly has led me to grow in any case even if it was painful.”
What is Milan for you?
“For me, Milan is family. From the first day I entered this context I felt an integral part. I thank Dr. Galliani, President Berlusconi who is no longer with us today. I thank Mauro Bianchessi who was close to me and Filippo Galli who always made me feel at home. And the various coaches.”
Is Milan also your favourite team?
“I have two favourite teams, Milan and Real Madrid.”
Filippo Galli has often praised your technical qualities, which are hard to find in today’s game…
“Creative football is increasingly rare, we limit ourselves more to the schemes that the players make their own and when you watch the games the fun is probably less. Galli was in love with my technique and gave me advice.
“The path he saw for me was more cautious, different from the one I took. In the end my skills led me to play with the older ones, to the point that from the youth sector I immediately made the leap to the first team. He was right, I needed a more gradual path.”
Seedorf named you as a substitute when you were 15, but you never made your full debut…
“I felt ready. From the first training sessions I felt at ease, with Seedorf I felt great and Kakà took me under his wing from the first day. Learning from him was incredible. It was a great team if I think back to the players who were there. I have a dream inside: to return to Milan one day.”
YouTube has amplified your qualities, to the extent that you became known for compilations…
“It’s true, I was the trailblazer. What I can say is that if on one hand it is important to create an image, the focus must remain on the field. And you have to surround yourself with people who know how to manage these things, because for a boy it is not easy.”
How much do social media messages affect you?
“I tried to keep the energy away from me, but it is inevitable that comments are read and people close to you like friends send you comments or articles. Like it or not, the comments reach you and it is not easy.”
Today’s Milan has another child prodigy called Francesco Camarda. There are already huge expectations on him. What do you feel like telling him?
“I clearly see myself in him, he has done things that I have done. What I can tell him is to continue like this, to play with a smile and find the pleasure of entering the field every day and showing first of all to himself what kind of player he is.
“He is the one who enters the field and if he doesn’t have a clear head it’s difficult, so he has to be good at freeing himself from pressure. Of course, San Siro is scary but at that age there are two things: either you are scared of entering or you get excited.
“It’s very much part of the boy’s character, but I think that the recklessness of age leads him to get excited.”
Mastour was a very technical gifted kid who could have gone far in the game with some adjustment but he is clearly still super naive if he think he will ever play for AC Milans first team let alone any other european top teams.
The guy is 26 years old and has only managed to play 56 games and scored 4 goals to this point of his career and hasn’t even been able to become a consistent starter in all due respect the Moroccan league of all leagues. The guy is probably more fit to play Brazilian beach football than normal football and I doubt even Serie B teams would want to bet their time and money on him.
An absolute waste of talent.
If Mastour was the only player who didn’t make it it would be one thing but NONE of them made it.
They can’t all be terrible (especially when they play for one of the best youth teams on the planet (being Milan, in Italy).
I generally respect your views of us not utilizing our talents to the fullest but I see the one above as rather redundant as he has had enough chances to carve a place for himself at small clubs and leagues and still fails miserably. We actually paid 2.1 mil for him in 2012 which in nowadays money is roughly 2.9 mil euros. In fact when we bought him he was the most expensive player ever at that age bracket.
There simply isn’t a way around it, he is a massive failure and if it was only down to Milan why hasn’t he succeeded in the other clubs or been picked up by for example a Scandinavian club.
My answer to the question is that he isn’t really a football player but a juggler with a lack of understanding for the game.
Ah yes Mastour is a bad example although he was hopelessly mismanaged including with the early over the top reviews and then the numerous loans which have killed so many careers.
Look at the clubs he played for and tell me if you doesn’t think he should have made it at some of those clubs. He was only on two loans away from milan.
2008–2012 Reggiana
2012–2014 AC Milan
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014–2018 AC Milan 0 (0)
2015–2016 → Málaga (loan) 1 (0)
2016–2017 → PEC Zwolle (loan) 5 (0)
2018–2019 Lamia 4 (0)
2019–2021 Reggina 10 (0)
2021 → Carpi (loan) 10 (1)
2022–2023 Renaissance Zemamra 12 (3)
2023–2024 Union de Touarga 9 (0)
Martin I like your comments usually but I think you’re being a little unfair. He fell well short of expectations (that were set for him and then blown out of proportion) but he is still a professional footballer.
I watch my local non league team here in England, and a good few of the players have had 10 minutes here and there for premier league sides. Failure is a strong word when so few ‘succeed’.
It’s great that we talk more about mental health in football now, but it still tends to be about having depression vs not having depression, and ignores the vast spectrum of general mental well-being and self analysis in between. He clearly hasn’t got – and never had, the head to be an elite sportsman, but that is beyond his control.
He’s probably 15 years away from being able to reflect on his career with maturity. Until then, if he gets to see the world and earn a crust kicking a ball, good luck to him.
That’s also fair enough that you think that and expectations certainly was disproportional compared to what he has achieved but it doesn’t really change the fact either that he was the most expensive 14 year old player ever in 2012.
Mastour has pretty much failed wherever he has gone and all of his goals has been in either Serie C or the Moroccan 2nd division and even there fairled to become a consistent starter.
To be fair I’ve been suffering from depression and other stuff for longer than than Mastour has even lived so i know how harming it can be to ones life.
Yeah probably and its not like I doesn’t wish him all the best but I simply cant see him succeed as he has played in greece and holland and the Moroccan 2nd and 1rst leagues with basically no success and that cant all be down to Milans errors.
I hope he can prove me wrong though but time is running out for him.
There have been a lot of very talented football players but talent with the ball ≠ talent of playing football. You can be a God at handling the ball but if you can’t do anything else well you’re not gonna make it as a football player.
Is he without a club now?
Yes and only managed to play 9 matches last season and only mustered 321 minutes in the Moroccan league.
Don’t listen to him camarda
Sign him for Milan Futuro team.
Mastour should be the last person giving example to anyone about anything outside of YouTube hits.
He’s basically our Freddy Adu.
Mastour and Freddy Adu is a great example of why we shouldn’t rush young players like Camarda especially at such a delicate age.
These players were not ready for first team football at 15-16 yrs old.