Imran Louza

Imran Louza (Arabic: عمران لوزة; born 1 May 1999) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for EFL Championship club Watford and the Morocco national team.

Imran Louza
Louza with Nantes in 2020
Personal information
Full name Imran Louza[1]
Date of birth (1999-05-01) 1 May 1999
Place of birth Nantes, France
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Watford
Number 6
Youth career
2005–2006 Etoile du Cens
2006–2017 Nantes
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2017–2019 Nantes B 40 (19)
2019–2021 Nantes 58 (9)
2021– Watford 41 (5)
International career‡
2017 Morocco U20 2 (1)
2019 France U20 2 (0)
2019 France U21 6 (0)
2021– Morocco 13 (2)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 8 May 2023 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 28 March 2023 (UTC)

Louza came through Nantes' youth academy and made his first team debut in 2019, and his international debut in 2021.

Club career

Nantes

Louza joined the youth academy of Nantes in 2006 from Etoile du Cens, and was captain of several youth categories in the club.[2] He made his professional debut with Nantes in a 4–1 Coupe de France win over Châteauroux on 4 January 2019, and scored in his debut.[3]

Watford

On 1 June 2021, Watford completed the signing of Louza from Nantes for a reported fee of €10 million.[4] He signed with The Hornets on a five-year deal lasting until 2026.[5][6] On 21 August 2021, Louza made his debut for Watford in a 2-0 loss against Brighton.[7]

On 8 October 2022, in Louza's third appearance of the season, he opened his account for Watford with an impressive free-kick to equalise in an eventual 3–1 defeat to Blackpool.[8] On 19 October 2022, Louza was stretchered off during a 3–0 defeat to Millwall.[9] Manager Slaven Bilić would go on to reveal that Louza had fractured his fibula as well as suffering ligament damage, an injury that would rule him out for several months and see him miss the 2022 FIFA World Cup.[10]

International career

Louza was born in France to a Moroccan father and a French mother. He represented the Morocco U20s in a 3–2 friendly win over the France U20s, and scored a goal for his side.[11] He switched to represent France internationally, debuting for the France U20s and U21s.

Louza formally decided to represent the senior Morocco national team and debuted and scored in a 5–0 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification win over Guinea-Bissau on 6 October 2021.[12]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 8 May 2023[13]
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Nantes B 2017–18 Championnat National 3 204———204
2018–19 Championnat National 2 206———206
Total 4010———4010
Nantes 2018–19 Ligue 1 102100—31
2019–20 Ligue 1 2422121—282
2020–21 Ligue 1 33710—2[lower-alpha 1]0367
Total 5895221206712
Watford 2021–22[13] Premier League 20020——220
2022–23[13] Championship 21500——215
Total 41520——435
Career total 1392352412014926
  1. Appearances in Ligue 1 relegation play-offs

International goals

Scores and results list Morocco's goal tally first.[14]

No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.6 October 2021Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium, Rabat, Morocco Guinea-Bissau2–05–02022 FIFA World Cup qualification
2.12 November 2021 Sudan3–03–0

References
  1. "2021/22 Premier League squads confirmed". Premier League. 10 September 2021. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  2. "Formation - Imran Louza, Made In FC Nantes". www.fcnantes.com.
  3. "Il marque pour son premier match en pro avec le FC Nantes : Imran Louza vit "un rêve de gosse"". France Bleu. 5 January 2019.
  4. "Watford sign Imran Louza for €10m from Nantes". www.getfootballnewsfrance.com. June 2021.
  5. "Pro Group - Imran Louza leaves FC Nantes". www.fcnantes.com.
  6. "Official: Hornets Sign Louza". Watford F.C. 1 June 2021. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
  7. "Brighton make it two wins from two with Watford victory". BBC Sport. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
  8. "Blackpool 3–1 Watford: Jerry Yates double ends Tangerines' winless run". BBC Sport. 8 October 2022. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
  9. "Millwall 3–0 Watford: Tom Bradshaw's first-half hat-trick downs Hornets". BBC Sport. 19 October 2022. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
  10. "Imran Louza: Watford's Morocco midfielder 'out for a few months' with broken leg". BBC Sport. 21 October 2022. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
  11. "FC Nantes. Imran Louza, le Canari qui grandit dans l'ombre". 14 November 2018.
  12. https://www.ouest-france.fr/sport/football/equipe-maroc/fc-nantes-premiere-selection-et-premier-but-pour-imran-louza-ancien-canari-avec-le-maroc-70e3b3e6-26de-11ec-8dc7-65fb792c4248
  13. Imran Louza at Soccerway
  14. "Imran Louza". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.