Mukhairi Ajmal
Personal information
Full name Muhammad Mukhairi
Ajmal bin Mahadi
Date of birth (2001-11-07) 7 November 2001[1]
Place of birth Sungai Lembing,
Pahang, Malaysia
Height 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Attacking midfielder, winger
Team information
Current team
 Selangor
Number 10
Youth career
–2015 Pahang Malaysia Sports School
2016–2018 Tunku Mahkota Ismail Sports School
2019 PKNP U21
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2019 PKNP 2 (0)
2020 Selangor II 4 (0)
2020– Selangor 67 (7)
International career‡
2016–2017 Malaysia U16
2019–2020 Malaysia U19 8 (1)
2021– Malaysia U23 7 (3)
2021– Malaysia 12 (0)
Medal record
Representing  Malaysia
Men's football
Merdeka Cup
Runner-up2023
King's Cup
Runner-up2022
AFF Championship
Third place2022
AFF U-19 Youth Championship
Second place2019 Vietnam
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of June 7, 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 20 June 2023

Muhammad Mukhairi Ajmal bin Mahadi (born November 7, 2001) is a Malaysian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or a right winger for Malaysia Super League club Selangor and the Malaysia national team.

Mukhairi began his senior club career playing for PKNP reserve squad, before promoted to the first team in 2019, aged 18. His individual performances led to a move to Selangor in 2020.

Mukhairi represented Malaysia at under-19 level, before making his debut for under-23 level in 2021. He has been called up to the senior Malaysia squad, and made his senior international debut in October 2021.

Club career

Early career

Born in Sungai Lembing, Pahang, Mukhairi begin his career with attended the Pahang Malaysian Sports School, and trained there until he was 15, before transferring to Tunku Mahkota Ismail Sports School (SSTMI) in Johor for the final two years of his formal secondary education.[2][3][4]

PKNP

Upon graduating at the end of 2018, Mukhairi signed for Super League side PKNP on a one-year contract with an option for an extra year.[2] He making his league and first team debut, against PKNS on 23 February 2019, at the age 17 years, three months and 16 days, coming on as a substitute in the 67th minute.[5][6] Later, he scored his first professional goal on 29 September 2019 in an 4–1 loss against Kedah at Darulaman Stadium in Malaysia Cup tournament.[7] By this time, his performance was soon attracting attention from several Malaysia Super League clubs, until he was approached by Selangor, who planned to sign him to their reserve team.[8]

Selangor

On 25 December 2019, Mukhairi moved to joined Selangor, being initially assigned to the Selangor II in Malaysia Premier League.[9][10] The following 14 July 2020, after made several appearances for reserve team, he was promoted outright by the Red Giants first team.[11][12] Mukhairi made his first team – and Super League – debut for Selangor on 3 October 2020, starting in a 7–0 away victory over PDRM.[13][14] On second season with the club, he scored his first goal in the league match against Sri Pahang in a 3–1 win on 6 March 2021.[15][16] He managed to make a significant impact in most games and came away with a respectable played in twenty games in the league matches and provide one goal and one assist for the club.

In his third season, Mukhairi began wearing the number 7 shirt for Selangor in 2022, signalling coach Michael Feichtenbeiner's intent to use him as his main box-to-box and playmaker. On 1 October, Mukhairi scored with a powerful shot from 25 yards in the 32nd minute against Melaka United.[17] The goal later earned him the Best Goal of the Malaysian League 2022 for the goal of the year.[18] On 16 November, the 21-year-old provided all three assists corner for Richmond Ankrah, Caion and Sharul Nazeem's goal in a 3–1 win against Terengganu at Malaysia Cup semi-final, to take his assist tally to 9.[19] Mukhairi finished his third season with concluding 3 goals and 9 top assist for the club, in 32 appearances across all competitions.

Prior to the 2023 season, Mukhairi was given the squad number 10 following the release of Caion, the club's previous number 10. He joined a famous list of players to wear the number 10, most notably the late Mokhtar Dahari, a legend striker of the squad who hold the record as the top scorer for the club with 177 goals. Mukhairi began the 2023 season firmly established in Selangor's starting line-up. Mukhairi scored his first goals of the new campaign on 15 April 2023, scoring a brace in a 4–0 victory against Sri Pahang in the FA Cup.[20] On 7 June 2023, he scored an opening goal to beat Kelantan United 7–1 at the Sultan Muhammad IV Stadium.[21] He completed the season with 31 appearances, 6 goals and providing 4 assist in all competitions.

International career

Youth

At the youth international level, Mukhairi was the part of national team under-19 to helped the squad finish runners up in the 2019 AFF U-18 Youth Championship, before helped squad to qualified for the 2020 AFC U-19 Championship finals.

Senior

On 23 September 2021, Mukhairi received his first call-up to the senior national team, for central training and friendly matches against Jordan and Uzbekistan.[22] He made his senior international debut on 6 October 2021, replacing Nazmi Faiz in the 61st minute of a 4–0 loss against Jordan.[23]

Style of play

Primarily a central midfielder, he is also capable of playing on the left flank, in a holding role, as a deep-lying playmaker, in a box-to-box role, or even as an attacking midfielder.[24] During his season with Selangor, Mukhairi was deployed in a more advanced and creative midfield role rather than in his usual box-to-box role, which saw him gain more time on the ball, and he excelled as the team's main playmaker, due to his vision and passing range.[8][25] His performances in this role saw him develop from a promising youngster into one of the best and most complete midfielders in Malaysian League.[3] Upon Mukhairi's departure from PKNP in 2020, his former coach, Abu Bakar Fadzim stating that he "...as a young player who has a high level of intellectual intelligence (IQ), and he can even plan a match and think in a short period of time before making a pass".[8] Mukhairi is also effective at taking set pieces, particularly corners or wide free kicks.[26]

Career statistics

Club

As of 17 December 2023.[27]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup League Cup Continental Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
PKNP 2019 Malaysia Super League 20002[lower-alpha 1] 1–41
Total200021–41
Selangor II 2020 Malaysia Premier League 40–––40
Total400000–40
Selangor 2020 Malaysia Super League 20000[lower-alpha 1] 0–20
2021 Malaysia Super League 201003[lower-alpha 1] 0–231
2022 Malaysia Super League 21 3 4 0 7[lower-alpha 1] 0 – 32 3
2023 Malaysia Super League 24 3 3 3 4[lower-alpha 1] 0 – 31 6
Total67773140008810
Career Total73773161009611
  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Appearances in Malaysia Cup

International

As of 20 June 2023[28]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Malaysia 202120
202260
202340
Total120

Honours

Club

Selangor

International

Malaysia U19

Malaysia

References

  1. ↑ "Mukhairi Ajmal". ESPN. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
  2. 1 2 Zainal, Zulhilmi (27 April 2020). "Meet Mukhairi Ajmal - The Malaysia wonderkid who idolises Ozil and aims to shine alongside Luqman Hakim". goal.com. Goal. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  3. 1 2 Bernama (4 May 2020). "Mukhairi Ajmal - The next rising star of Malaysian football". dailyexpress.com.my. Daily Express. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  4. ↑ "Know Me Better: Mukhairi Ajmal". selangorfc.com. Selangor FC. 9 December 2021. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  5. ↑ "PKNS vs. PKNP". int.soccerway.com. Soccerway. 23 February 2019. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
  6. ↑ Mansor, Zulfaizan (23 February 2019). "PKNS FC terus pamer taring". bharian.com.my. Berita Harian. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
  7. ↑ Arzaman, Al-Zaim (29 September 2019). "Piala Malaysia 2019: Kedah Bergaya Tamatkan Cabaran PKNP FC Di Darul Aman". semuanyabola.com. Semaunya Bola. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  8. 1 2 3 Arzaman, Al-Zaim (7 May 2020). "Mukhairi Ajmal Pemain Muda Yang Hampir Sempurna". semuanyabola.com. Semaunya Bola. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
  9. ↑ Dito (25 December 2019). "Mukhairi Ajmal Sah Sertai Pasukan Selangor". vocketfc.com. Vocket FC. Retrieved 25 December 2019.
  10. ↑ Arzaman, Al-Zaim (25 December 2019). "Mukhairi Ajmal Sah Sarung Jersi Gergasi Merah Untuk Saingan Musim Hadapan". semuanyabola.com. Semaunya Bola. Retrieved 25 December 2019.
  11. ↑ "Sathianathan serap dua "ubi muda" bersama Selangor". stadiumastro.com. Stadium Astro. 14 July 2020. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  12. ↑ "Pengalaman senjata Mukhairi Ajmal rebut tempat di Selangor". stadiumastro.com. Stadium Astro. 14 July 2020. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  13. ↑ "PDRM vs. Selangor". int.soccerway.com. Soccerway. 3 October 2020. Retrieved 3 October 2020.
  14. ↑ Mohamad, Nur Hadi (3 October 2020). "MSL 2020: Selangor 'Mengamuk' Belasah PDRM 7-0". semuanyabola.com. Semaunya Bola. Retrieved 3 October 2020.
  15. ↑ "Selangor vs. Sri Pahang". int.soccerway.com. Soccerway. 6 March 2021. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  16. ↑ Msar, Syazwan (6 March 2021). "Selangor garang benam Sri Pahang". hmetro.com.my. Harian Metro. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  17. ↑ "Cheng Hoe cemerlang bimbing Selangor belasah Melaka United". sinarharian.com.my. Sinar Harian. 1 October 2022. Retrieved 1 October 2022.
  18. ↑ Noor, Azim (15 December 2022). "Keputusan Anugerah Bola Sepak Kebangsaan (ABK) 2022". makanbola.com. Makan Bola. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
  19. ↑ Abdullah, Meor (16 November 2022). "Selangor vs Terengganu: Sepakan Sudut Mukhairi Ajmal Buat Skuad Penyu 'Lemas'". vocketfc.com. Vocket FC. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
  20. ↑ Sulaiman (16 April 2023). "Piala FA: Selangor Mengamuk Belasah Sri Pahang 4-0". vocketfc.com. Vocket FC. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  21. ↑ Alias, Nor Amalina (7 June 2023). "Kelantan United jadi 'lauk' Selangor". hmetro.com.my. Harian Metro. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
  22. ↑ "Senarai 24 pemain ke kem latihan pusat skuad Harimau Malaya". fam.org.my. Football Association of Malaysia. 23 September 2021. Retrieved 23 September 2021.
  23. ↑ "Perlawanan Antarabangsa Tier 1: Jordan 4–0 Malaysia". fam.org.my. Football Association of Malaysia. 7 October 2021. Retrieved 7 October 2021.
  24. ↑ Bernama (5 May 2020). "Mukhairi Ajmal miliki pakej serba lengkap". sinarharian.com.my. Sinar Harian. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
  25. ↑ Faris, Nik (8 May 2022). "Mukhairi Ajmal Memang Luar Biasa". makanbola.com. Makan Bola. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
  26. ↑ Faris, Nik (11 October 2021). "Kematangan Mukhairi Ajmal Terserlah Kemudi Jentera Tengah Malaysia". makanbola.com. Makan Bola. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
  27. ↑ "Mukhairi Ajmal". Soccerway. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  28. ↑ "Mukhairi Ajmal". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 24 October 2021.
  29. ↑ Fai, Ooi Kin (25 September 2022). "Harimau Malaya lose King's Cup final after penalty shootout heartbreak". nst.com.my. Chiang Mai, Thailand: New Straits Times. Archived from the original on 26 September 2022. Retrieved 26 September 2022.
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