Slavia announced the arrival on their club website on Monday evening. As a teenager, Ihattaren rose to first team PSV Eindhoven, scored three goals and six assists in the Dutch league in the 2019/2020 season, and three goals and two assists in the following season. He was greatly shaken by the death of his father, after which he was arrested twice, and there is also speculation in the Dutch media about his relationship with the mafia.
According to Slavia, it should be a closed past. “Mohamed paid for the great talent of Dutch football, he showed great abilities at a young age. Unfortunately, his development and career were greatly shaken by the death of his father, who had a huge influence on him. There followed a period when football went completely by the wayside. Slavia wants to give him a second chance. Ihattaren is working on himself and wants to return to professional football. Today, he has a functioning family background and great motivation to succeed,” reads a statement on the club’s website.
The contract is based mainly on the performance component associated with his participation in the matches of the elite team. At the beginning of his new engagement, the Dutch striker with Moroccan roots, who can play in the middle of the field as well as on the wing, will prepare individually for now.
At the end of PSV, Ihattaren tried to restart his career at Juventus, Sampdoria Genoa and Ajax. The last time he jumped into a competitive duel was in July 2022. He had been unemployed since the summer, and in August his move to the Turkish Samsunspor fell through at the last minute. He was already given a tumultuous welcome by the fans there, when the club announced soon after that Ihattaren “tried to change the terms of the deal with unacceptable demands”.
A one-year contract with a three-year option shows that Slavia knows that the involvement of the Dutchman can turn into one big misstep, precisely with regard to his past. A year should be long enough for Ihattaren to show he is ready to return to big time football. Slavia’s coaching team under the leadership of Jindřich Trpišovský has already shown several times that they know how to work with players. Whether it will be successful this time, only time will tell.
