Background

In a recent press release, August 7, 2023, the Mouloudia Club d'Alger announced the renewal of its contract with its equipment supplier Puma. This new lease links the Algiers club to the German company specializing in the manufacturing of sporting goods for the next two seasons.^[1] On 5 October 2023 MC Alger announced the appointment of the club's former player Mohamed Khazrouni to the position of general coordinator of the first team, as a reminder, the position of general coordinator of the first team has been vacant since the departure of Fayçal Badji.^[2] The MC Alger sports center has risen from the ground better yet, he’s moving forward with sure steps. According to an internal source, it should be ready by the end of the current year. The photo of the chairman of the board of directors of the MCA from the top of a glass building alone symbolizes the state of progress of the training and training center of the MC Alger in Zéralda.^[3] According to an authorized source, this complex, which will include an administrative building, a hotel, two conference rooms and two training fields, one of which will be made of hybrid grass, will be ready in December 2023.^[3]

Pre-season

MC Alger squad returned to training on September 3, 2023, after a break of a few days decided by Patrice Beaumelle. After a first preparation course in Rennes in France, Youcef Belaili's teammates will continue with a second part in the Capital. They trained at École supérieure d'hôtellerie et restauration d'Alger (ESHRA).^[4] Beaumelle added « I am satisfied with the boys’ performance. They were able to repeat the scales and continue to create automatisms. We were able to recover all the players along with those who could not travel for the preparation. I'm trying to do a squad tour and get everyone ready for the start of the championship ».^[5]

First-team transfers (summer transfer window)

Youcef Belaïli becoming the highest salary ever received by a player in Ligue 1.

After the end of last season, club president Mohamed Hakim Hadj Redjem announced that the club would make major signings, MC Alger has its first summer recruit he is ASEC Mimosas midfielder Mohamed Zougrana, The Ivorian international has signed up for a period of four years. The amount of the transfer is estimated at 200,000 euros according to some sources.^[6] The next day Hadj Redjem signing two seasons with international defender Djamel Benlamri coming from the Emirates.^[7] On July 27, Sofiane Bayazid striker USM Khenchela joined Mouloudia for three seasons who managed to redeem his letter of release. According to several consistent sources, the amount of the transfer would be 4 billion centimes.^[8]

On August 9, after long negotiations the algerian international Youcef Belaïli joined MC Alger for two seasons, who had been without a club since April after terminating his contract with Ajaccio, Belaïli who will wear number 10 sought through his father to find a club in Europe but it was ultimately in Algeria that he bounced around for 8 years.^[9] Belaïli signs contract with the highest salary ever received by a player in Ligue 1, sources close to the matter assure that the two parties had agreed that the monthly salary would be around 1.5 billion with an advance of 8 months.^[10] On August 21, MC Alger signed a contract with Ivorian striker Youssouf Dao for two seasons coming from Sparta Prague.^[11] On August 30, Zakaria Naidji is officially a Mouloudia d’Alger player two days after the announcement of his departure from Stade Lavallois and signed a three-year contract.^[12]

Season run-in

The Greens and Reds are imposing an infernal pace on the other competitors and the gap is widening little by little. MC Alger solid leader of the Ligue 1 has so far collected 27 points in 10 Ligue 1 matches, a lead of nine points over the runner-up JS Saoura. Only CR Belouizdad can get closer to five points by winning its three late maths. With a boss-sized Belaïli and players in good shape like Naidji, Bayazid, and Zoungrana to name just a few, the Green and Red have been on cloud nine since the start of the current year.^[13] On January 10, 2024, MC Alger and Ooredoo have signed a sponsorship partnership for a period of two years, the signing ceremony between the president of MC Alger Mohamed Hakim Hadj Redjem and the CEO of Ooredoo Roni Tohme took place in the presence of several figures from the capital club including former glories Omar Betrouni and Ali Bencheikh, this is the second time they have united through a sponsorship contract after that of the 2018–2020 period.^[14]

In

Summer

Date	Pos	Player	Moving from	Fee	Source
16 July 2023	FW	Ibrahim Morsli	ASO Chlef	Loan return
19 July 2023	MF	Mohamed Zougrana	ASEC Mimosas	Undisclosed	[6]
20 July 2023	DF	Djamel Benlamri	Al-Wasl	Free transfer	[7]
27 July 2023	FW	Sofiane Bayazid	USM Khenchela	Undisclosed	[8]
9 August 2023	FW	Youcef Belaïli	Ajaccio	Free transfer	[9]
14 August 2023	MF	Dalil Hassen Khodja	ES Ben Aknoun	Free transfer	[17]
17 August 2023	MF	Mehdi Zerkane	Nîmes Olympique	Free transfer	[18]
19 August 2023	MF	Ammar El Orfi	NC Magra	Free transfer	[19]
21 August 2023	MF	Youssouf Dao	Sparta Prague B	Free transfer	[11]
30 August 2023	FW	Zakaria Naidji	Stade Lavallois	Free transfer	[12]

Out

Summer

Date	Pos	Player	Moving to	Fee	Source
9 June 2023	GK	Farid Chaâl	Al-Najma	Free transfer	[20]
17 June 2023	DF	Boualem Mesmoudi	Free agent	Free transfer	[21]
18 June 2023	DF	Houari Ferhani	Free agent	Free transfer	[22]
18 July 2023	DF	Aziz Benabdi	Free agent	Free transfer	[23]
10 August 2023	FW	Abdelmalek Oukil	ES Sétif	Loan	[24]
16 August 2023	FW	Ibrahim Morsli	Free agent	Free transfer	[25]
21 August 2023	FW	Joseph Esso	Free agent	Free transfer	[26]
27 August 2023	FW	Ramzi Haif	US Souf	Free transfer	[27]
6 September 2023	RW	Razafindranaivo Koloina	Unattached	Free transfer (Released)

New contracts

Overview

Updated to match played 6 January 2024
Source: Competitions

Ligue 1

Algerian Cup

Appearances and goals

As of 7 December 2023

No.	Pos	Player	Nat	Ligue 1			Algerian Cup			Total
				App	St	G	App	St	G	App	St	G
Goalkeepers
1	GK	Abdelatif Ramdane		2	2	0	0	0	0	2	2	0
2	GK	Seifeddine Belkhir		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
16	GK	Oussama Litim		7	7	0	0	0	0	7	7	0
Defenders
4	CB	Djamel Benlamri		7	7	0	0	0	0	7	7	0
5	CB	Ayoub Abdellaoui		9	9	1	0	0	0	9	9	1
14	LB	Hamza Mouali		9	9	0	0	0	0	9	9	0
17	RB	Kamel Hamidi		4	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	0
19	CB	Ayoub Ghezala		4	2	0	0	0	0	4	2	0
20	RB	Réda Halaïmia		9	9	1	0	0	0	9	9	1
27	CB	Abdelkader Menezla		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Midfielders
3	MF	Massinissa Benchelouche		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
6	DM	Mohamed Benkhemassa		8	8	1	0	0	0	8	8	1
12	DM	Mohamed Zougrana		9	9	0	0	0	0	9	9	0
13	MF	Dalil Hassen Khodja		6	0	0	0	0	0	6	0	0
15	CM	Ammar El Orfi		3	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0
21	AM / RW	Mehdi Zerkane		3	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0
22	MF	Khalid Dahmani		1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
25	MF	Badreddine Touki		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
26	MF	Moundhir Bouzekri		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Forwards
7	CF	Sofiane Bayazid		9	8	5	0	0	0	9	8	5
8	RW	Feth-Allah Tahar		8	8	0	0	0	0	8	8	0
9	FW	Ali Haroun		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
10	LW	Youcef Belaïli		9	9	10	0	0	0	9	9	10
11	CF	Youssouf Dao		8	1	1	0	0	0	8	1	1
18	CF	Kheireddine Merzougui		9	1	4	0	0	0	9	1	4
23	LM	Chouaib Debbih		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
24	CF	Zakaria Naidji		9	9	3	0	0	0	9	9	3
Total				9		26	0		0	9		26

Goalscorers

As of 6 January 2024

Includes all competitive matches.

No.	Nat.	Player	Pos.	L 1	AC	TOTAL
10		Youcef Belaïli	FW	10	0	10
24		Zakaria Naidji	FW	7	0	7
7		Sofiane Bayazid	FW	5	0	5
18		Kheireddine Merzougui	FW	4	0	4
6		Mohammed Benkhemassa	MF	1	0	1
11		Youssouf Dao	FW	1	0	1
20		Réda Halaïmia	DF	1	0	1
5		Ayoub Abdellaoui	DF	1	0	1
Own Goals				0	0	0
Totals				30	0	30

Assists

As of 6 January 2024

No.	Nat.	Player	Pos.	L 1	AC	TOTAL
10		Youcef Belaïli	FW	8	0	8
24		Zakaria Naidji	FW	4	0	4
11		Youssouf Dao	FW	4	0	4
8		Fethallah Tahar	MF	3	0	3
20		Réda Halaïmia	DF	2	0	2
6		Mohamed Benkhemassa	MF	1	0	1
67		Oussama Benhaoua	MF	1	0	1
7		Sofiane Bayazid	FW	1	0	1
14		Hamza Mouali	DF	1	0	1
Totals				25	0	25

Penalties

Date	Nation	Name	Opponent	Scored?
11 November 2023		Youcef Belaïli	ASO Chlef	Y
17 November 2023			JS Saoura	Y
25 November 2023			US Souf	Y

Clean sheets

As of 6 January 2024

Includes all competitive matches.

					Clean sheets
No.	Nat	Name	GP	GA	L 1	AC	Total
1		Abdelatif Ramdane	3	0	3	0	3
2		Seifeddine Belkhir	0	0	0	0	0
16		Oussama Litim	9	9	5	0	5
		TOTALS		8	8	0	8