Ismael Benktib (born 4 July 1998) is a professional footballer who plays for Maghreb de Fès as a central midfielder. Born in Spain, he represented Morocco at youth international levels.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Ismael Benktib | ||
| Date of birth | (1998-07-04) 4 July 1998 (age 24) | ||
| Place of birth | L'Ametlla del Vallès, Spain | ||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
| Club information | |||
Current team | MAS Fez | ||
| Number | 98 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Girona | |||
| 2014–2017 | Elche | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2015–2018 | Elche B | 26 | (2) |
| 2017–2018 | Elche | 7 | (0) |
| 2018–2019 | Recreativo | 0 | (0) |
| 2019–2020 | Levante B | 6 | (0) |
| 2020 | Elche B | 6 | (0) |
| 2020–2021 | Racing Santander | 4 | (0) |
| 2021– | MAS Fez | 5 | (0) |
| National team | |||
| 2016–2017 | Morocco U20 | 10 | (1) |
| 2018– | Morocco U23 | 1 | (0) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 10 April 2021 | |||
Born in L'Ametlla del Vallès, Barcelona, Catalonia, Benktib joined Elche CF's youth setup in 2014, from Girona FC.[1] He made his senior debut with the reserves on 23 August 2015, starting in a 1–0 Tercera División away win against FC Jove Español.[2]
On 7 June 2016, Benktib renewed his contract with the club.[3] He made his first-team debut on 10 September of the following year, coming on as a late substitute for Juan José Collantes in a 4–1 home routing of CF Peralada-Girona B in the Segunda División B championship.
On 29 May 2018, Elche announced that Benktib's contract was extended until 2021, after exercising the automatic renewal option in his previous deal; the club also announced that he would become a permanent member of the main squad in the 2018–19 campaign.[4] Four days later, however, his agent stated that his contract would only be renewed for one further year if the club achieved promotion to Segunda División;[5] Elche later denied the claims.[6]
In September 2018, Benktib started training with Recreativo de Huelva[7] and signed a contract with the club afterwards. Elche later took a legal action against the player due to a "breach of contract", which the federation dismissed; he was registered by his new club in October.[8]
On 23 January 2019, after not playing a single minute with Recreativo, Benktib joined Levante UD's B-team, also in the third division.[9] Roughly one year later, after again featuring rarely, he terminated his contract[10] and returned to Elche, being again assigned to their reserve side.[11]
On 17 August 2020, Benktib agreed to a two-year contract with Racing de Santander, recently relegated to the division three.[12] He left the club the following 4 February with only four matches, and was transferred to Moroccan side Maghreb de Fès.[13]