On Tuesday 14 February it became official that French-born Algerian defensive midfielder Mehdi Boudjemaa, 24, who was previously with Turkish top-flight side Hatayspor, will continue his career at Ferencváros.

Introduction

Mehdi Boudjemaa was born on 7 April 1998 in Cergy, France, but is an Algerian national. Still only 24 years old, the defensive midfielder was introduced to the basics of football at AS Beauvais Oise, before moving to Strasbourg's academy, where he spent a year before returning to his boyhood club and finally signing for EA Guingamp in 2017.

The two-time French Cup winners, currently in the French second division, he has worked his way through the club's youth ranks and was promoted to the senior squad in the summer of 2019. Six months later, he was loaned to Quevilly Rouen and then made also a short round at Stade Lavallois. After the expiry of his loan contract, he transferred to Hatayspor of Turkey on 8 August 2021.

He quickly became a regular starter, playing 1,764 minutes in 29 league games in his first season, while he has played in 19 matches this season.

His previous club were forced to withdraw from the top flight due to the tragedy and damage caused by the devastating earthquakes in Turkey.

- We know the Hatayspor team, we have a good relationship with them. We also had a meeting with the head coach in November, we watched their team play, we knew Mehdi. When the unfortunate natural disaster happened, we were on standby, so to speak, to see if there could be a situation where we could react. Mehdi is a very positive midfielder with a good style. I am very happy that we have managed to finalise this transfer," said our sporting director Tamás Hajnal.