Yasin Ben El-Mhanni
Yasin Ben El-Mhanni (born 26 October 1995) is an English semi-professional footballer who plays as a winger for Harrow Borough. Before joining Newcastle United in 2016, he played in non-league football with Farnborough and Lewes. Club career. Early career. Born in Shepherd's Bush, London, Ben El-Mhanni played futsal on the streets as a child before joining the AG Academy. He was soon signed by Barnet before playing with Aldershot Town, as well as Isthmian League clubs Farnborough and Lewes. While playing in the southern leagues, Ben El-Mhanni made a name  for himself on YouTube where videos of his skill and trickery earned him the chance to star in commercials for "Sports on Screen." For the commercials, Ben El-Mhanni flew to Spain and acted as a body double and skill consultant for Brazil and Barcelona star Neymar, as well as multiple Ballon d'Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo. His display of skill in the lower English leagues saw him dubbed the "non-League Riyad Mahrez" because of his North African heritage and similar style-of-play. In 2015 and 2016, Ben El-Mhanni trialed with several Premier League clubs, including Watford, Bournemouth , West Brom, Crystal Palace and Chelsea. During his spell with Chelsea, Ben El-Mhanni trained under first-team manager Guus Hiddink and scored on his debut for the reserve side. Newcastle United. On 8 July 2016, Ben El-Mhanni was signed by then Championship club Newcastle United. His debut came on 18 January 2017 in the third round of the FA Cup, in which he played 70 minutes in a 3–1 win over Championship rivals Birmingham. Ben El-Mhanni featured again in the next round, but could not help prevent Newcastle from being eliminated at the hands of League One  club Oxford United. In January 2018, Ben El-Mhanni filed a grievance against Newcastle academy coach Peter Beardsley, accusing him of bullying and discrimination. Beardsley was placed on gardening leave and at the end of the season an independent appeal body found that he had used discriminatory language and conducted himself in a generally unfair manner towards El-Mhanni. In March, between the appeal process but unrelated thereto, El-Mhanni was advised that his contract with Newcastle would not be renewed. After his release from Newcastle United he trained with West London club Brentford during pre season. Scunthorpe United. On  26 October 2018, Ben El-Mhanni signed for EFL League One club Scunthorpe United on a contract until the end of the season. On 13 November, he made a goalscoring debut for the club when he netted and made an assist in a 3–2 EFL Trophy loss to Mansfield Town. His contract was extended by Scunthorpe at the end of the 2018–19 season. El Mhanni left League 2 club Scunthorpe United FC in the summer of 2020 after only 8 appearances. In September 2021, El Mhanni joined Southern League Premier Division South club Chesham United. In February 2022, he joined  Harrow Borough. Personal life. Ben El-Mhanni was born in London to Moroccan parents Mostafa and Naima.