Mohamed Ihattaren Shines with Match-Winning Brace for Fortuna Sittard
Mohamed Ihattaren is no longer just a comeback story on paper. In Sittard, it is unfolding on the pitch, week after week.
The 24-year-old attacking midfielder delivered again against ADO Den Haag, driving Fortuna Sittard to a 3-2 victory with two goals and an assist. In a tight, nervy game, he was the difference.
His second goal sealed it.
With Fortuna clinging to their lead, Ihattaren pounced on a defensive mistake, glided past his marker and unleashed a left-footed strike. The ball crashed off the underside of the crossbar and dropped over the line – the kind of finish that announces a player’s confidence as loudly as any interview.
That moment effectively killed off ADO’s hopes of a comeback. It also underlined why Ihattaren has quickly become the heartbeat of this Fortuna side.
At the start of the new season, his numbers are already stacking up: three goals and two assists in five matches. Fortuna have ridden that form into fourth place in the table, a position that would have sounded ambitious not so long ago.
Regular Minutes, Real Momentum
This surge did not come out of nowhere.
In the 2025/26 campaign, Ihattaren finally put together a full league season again. He played 28 matches in the Dutch championship, scoring six goals and supplying 10 assists. For the first time in years, he had what every talented but stalled footballer craves: rhythm, responsibility, and a place in the team that felt permanent rather than provisional.
That consistency has given his game a new edge. The touches are cleaner, the decisions quicker, the risk-taking more calculated. He looks like a player who trusts his body and his instincts again.
Fortuna coach Danny Buijs, who has been working with him for 15 months, knows exactly what that means – and what could threaten it. Speaking to ESPN, Buijs made it clear he wants to keep the noise down around his playmaker. His message is simple: less spotlight, more football.
The coach believes Ihattaren needs to work away from the media glare, to concentrate on training, matches, and the long road back rather than the headlines that follow each performance. For a player whose career has already been pulled in several directions, that protection feels crucial.
From PSV Prodigy to Career Crossroads
Ihattaren’s story has never been about talent. That was obvious from the beginning.
Born in Utrecht, he burst onto the scene at PSV with a swagger that caught the eye across the country. In 2019, at just 17, he shone so brightly in a clash with Ajax that former Netherlands international Pierre van Hooijdonk called him the best player on the pitch. It looked like the start of a straightforward rise to the top.
Life intervened.
The death of his father in October 2019 hit him hard. Ihattaren later said his father was “everything” to him, a word that strips away the usual clichés and leaves only raw truth. From that point, his trajectory began to twist.
In 2021, he left PSV and signed a four-year deal with Juventus, a move that should have opened the door to Europe’s elite stage. Instead, it marked the beginning of a wandering period.
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 proposed move to Turkish side Samsunspor collapsed. At Slavia Prague, he did not spend a single minute on the pitch. Each stop added another layer of frustration, another reminder of potential unfulfilled.
A New Direction – Club and Country
Fortuna Sittard has given him something he has lacked since his early PSV days: continuity. Regular games, clear expectations, a coach willing to shield him, and a team built to let his creativity matter.
The numbers from last season and the explosive start to this one suggest he is finally turning opportunity into output again. The ADO Den Haag match felt like more than three points; it felt like another step away from the turbulence of the past four years.
There is also the question of his international future.
In 2025, Ihattaren declared that he wants to represent Morocco at senior level. He has previously played for the Netherlands youth national teams, but he has yet to debut for the senior side of either country. With performances like this, the debate around his allegiance will only grow louder.
For now, though, the picture is clear. A player once lost in transfer sagas and stalled loans is back deciding matches, not gossip columns.
If this is just the start of his season, how far can he drag Fortuna – and his own career – from the shadows he’s already had to outrun?
