Mukhairi Ajmal

In this Malay name, there is no surname or family name. The name Mahadi is a patronymic, and the person should be referred to by their given name, Muhammad Mukhairi Ajmal.

Mukhairi Ajmal

Personal information
Full name	Muhammad Mukhairi Ajmal bin Mahadi
Date of birth	(2001-11-07) 7 November 2001 (age 23) [1]
Place of birth	Sungai Lembing, Pahang, Malaysia
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 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	72	(8)
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-up 2023 King's Cup Runner-up 2022 AFF Championship 2022 AFF U-19 Youth Championship 2019 Vietnam
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 6 October 2024 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 22 March 2024

Muhammad Mukhairi Ajmal bin Mahadi (born November 7, 2001) is a Malaysian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or a winger for Malaysia Super League club Sabah 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.^{[ citation needed ]}

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.^{[ citation needed ]}

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.^{[ citation needed ]}

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 6 October 2024. ^[27]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			Cup [a]		League Cup [b]		Continental		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
PKNP	2019	Malaysia Super League	2	0	0	0	2	1	–		4	1
	Total		2	0	0	0	2	1	–		4	1
Selangor II	2020	Malaysia Premier League	4	0	–		–		–		4	0
	Total		4	0	0	0	0	0	–		4	0
Selangor	2020	Malaysia Super League	2	0	0	0	0	0	–		2	0
	2021	Malaysia Super League	20	1	0	0	3	0	–		23	1
	2022	Malaysia Super League	21	3	4	0	7	0	–		32	3
	2023	Malaysia Super League	24	3	3	3	4	0	–		31	6
	2024–25	Malaysia Super League	5	1	0	0	0	0	0 [c]	0	5	1
	Total		72	8	7	3	14	0	0	0	93	11
Career Total			78	8	7	3	16	1	0	0	101	12

1. Appearances in Malaysia FA Cup
2. Appearances in Malaysia Cup
3. Appearances in AFC Champions League Two

International

As of 22 March 2024 ^[28]

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Malaysia	2021	2	0
	2022	6	0
	2023	4	0
	2024	0	0
Total		12	0

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
	15 March 2024	UiTM Stadium, Shah Alam, Malaysia	Nepal	5-1	5-1	Friendly 1

¹ Not FIFA 'A' International match.

Honours

Selangor

• Malaysia Cup runner-up: 2022

Malaysia U19

• AFF U-19 Youth Championship runner-up: 2019

Malaysia

• King's Cup runner-up: 2022 ^[29]
• Merdeka Tournament runner-up: 2023

References

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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. 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.
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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.
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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.
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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.