Meschack Elia: Alanyaspor acquire explosive winger

Meschack Elia will continue his club career in Turkish football after Super Lig club Alanyaspor announced they acquired the Congolese attacker on Friday.

 

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A post shared by Corendon Alanyaspor 🌊☀️ (@alanyaspor)

The 28-year-old former TP Mazembe star arrives from Swiss club BSC Young Boys for a little over €1 million, signing a contract that runs until June 2028.

Elia’s role declined last season with Young Boys, where he spent six seasons after joining from Mazembe. The versatile attacker moved on loan to French Ligue 1 side Nantes for the second half of the season but failed to establish himself in limited action with one goal in eight appearances, primarily in a substitute role.

Le premier but de Meschack Elia sous nos couleurs 🐆🇨🇩 pic.twitter.com/E610HUo37g

— FC Nantes (@FCNantes) February 24, 2025

Elia joins at the end of the Turkish transfer window for Alanyaspor, who announced his signing alongside two other acquisitions including Benin national team star forward Steve Mounié on loan from FC Augsburg. Alanyaspor finished in a mid-table position last season and have one win, one draw and one defeat from their three games so far this season.

Despite an underwhelming end to his time in Switzerland, Elia enjoyed a successful run at Young Boys. He won three Swiss Super League titles along with two domestic cup triumphs while making 200 appearances in all competitions with 43 goals and 36 assists.

𝐊𝐎𝐄𝐊𝐎𝐄𝐊, Ederson is gezien met een heerlijke chip! 🥶
De regie is het kwijt, maar Meschack Elia werkt binnen voor Young Boys: 1-1 ⚖️#ZiggoSport #UCL #YBMCI pic.twitter.com/XIwkQn4kAM

— Ziggo Sport Voetbal (@ZS_Voetbal) October 25, 2023

Meschack Elia’s rise to stardom

Elia rose to prominence with Congolese giants TP Mazembe and also with the DR Congo national team. He won the award for Best Player at the 2016 African Nations Championship (CHAN) where he scored four goals as the Leopards won the tournament hosted by Rwanda. Elia continues to be a regular sight for the senior Leopards side with 11 goals in 57 appearances.

Throwing it back to Meschak Elia’s fantastic 4 at the 2016 #TotalEnergiesCHAN. ⚽⚽⚽⚽ pic.twitter.com/4iq6BCGIha

— CAF_Online (@CAF_Online) July 15, 2025

After the 2016 CHAN, Elia starred for the Ravens for a couple more seasons where he won the 2016 and 2017 editions of the CAF Confederation Cup as well as the 2016 CAF Super Cup. The Kinshasa native produced 7 goals in 37 appearances from CAF club competitions during his time at Mazembe.

Alanyaspor return to action on Saturday when they face Konyaspor away from home. They are currently in ninth spot on the Super Lig table with four points from three matches.

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