Moroccan starlet Amine Harit bags major award in Germany

by Phumzile Ngcatshe

Wednesday May 30, 2018. 13:00

Following an impressive campaign, Morocco and Schalke 04 midfielder Amine Harit has been named the German Bundesliga's 2017/18 Rookie of the Season.

The 20-year-old joined Schalke from French club Nantes last summer and his performances helped his side secure a spot in next season’s UEFA Champions League.

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Bound to represent the Atlas Lions at the upcoming 2018 FIFA World Cup, the youngster scored three goals and registered seven assists in 31 Bundesliga appearances as the club finished second in the table.

The BBC reports that the accolade is presented by the German league organisers and the nominees are footballers who, at the start of the season, were no older than 23 and had not yet played a Bundesliga match.

Meanwhile, Harit beat the other eight winners of the Bundesliga Rookie of the Month award, including Jann-Fiete Arp, Tatsuya Ito (both Hamburg) and Sébastian Haller (Eintracht Frankfurt) among others.

Born in France, Harit won the European U-19 Championship with France in 2016, but has since switched allegiance to Morocco, the country of his parents.

He made his debut for the Atlas Lions against Gabon in a 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier in October 2017 and has since won two more caps and is in Morocco's final squad for the World Cup in Russia.