An in-depth look into our new summer recruit, Mohamed Belloumi…
Mohamed El Bachir Belloumi, also known as Bachir Belloumi or Belloumi, was born in Mascara, Algeria, on 1 June 2002. His father Lakhdar Belloumi was a former professional, earning over 140 caps for Algeria and playing over 400 career appearances at club level, scoring more than 200 goals.
Mohamed began his youth career at local side GC Mascara in 2012. Spending eight years in El-Ghali’s youth system, the winger transferred to MC Oran in August 2020. Five months later, the now 22-year-old was promoted to their first team and played his first fixture in January 2021 in a 1-1 draw against CR Belouizdad, coming on in the 24th minute. In only his sixth appearance, Belloumi scored his first senior goal in a 6-0 home win over US Biskra in the Ligue Professionnelle 1. Coming on in the 81st minute, he recorded an assist for the fifth goal of the game in the 85th minute before netting in the first minute of added time.
Scoring in the following fixture, a 3-1 away win over CS Constantine, the winger ended his breakout campaign with three goals and four assists in 31 appearances in all competitions.
Belloumi left the club in September 2021 and signed for Liga Portugal 2 club SC Farense in February 2022. A month later, he made his Under-23s debut for the club in a 2-1 victory over Vizela, playing 18 minutes. Six days later, he scored his first goal for Farense’s Under-23 side on his first start, bagging the opening goal in a 1-1 away draw over Vitória de Guimarães SC in the Under-23 Liga Revelaçao. He made a third appearance in the same competition, playing 80 minutes in a 3-0 victory over Académica.
The 2022/23 campaign saw Belloumi become a consistent feature for Farense’s Under-23 side. Featuring 25 times in all competitions, he scored six goals and recorded one assist, with one of his most notable games coming in October 2022 when scoring a brace in a 3-1 victory over Sporting CP in the Liga Revelação. His form for Farense’s youth team saw him earn his first experience with the first team in November 2022, playing 18 minutes in a fourth-round defeat against Leixões in the Taça de Portugal. His second appearance came in the Allianz Cup a month later, featuring against Rio Ave, before playing his first Liga Portugal 2 fixture in January 2023 in a 1-0 win over Nacional.
As Farense secured promotion to the top flight of Portuguese football, he extended his contract with the Faro-based club in July 2023 until 2026. Last season saw the 22-year-old feature regularly for the Portuguese outfit. Scoring his first professional goal for the senior side in August 2023 in a 5-0 win over Chaves in Liga Portugal, the wide man scored seven goals and recorded five assists in 35 appearances. Halfway through the 2023/24 campaign, Belloumi extended his contract with Farense until 2027, and featured a further three times for the club at the start of this campaign, making 41 appearances in total.
Internationally, Belloumi has featured for Algeria at Under-20 level along with their classed A-team. Participating in the 2020 UNAF Under-20 Tournament, he helped Algeria qualify for the 2021 Africa Under-20 Cup of Nations, participating in all four matches and scoring against Tunisia.
In June 2021, he was called up to the Algeria A-team in the opening match of the new Miloud Hadefi Stadium in Oran to face against Liberia, coming off the bench in the 73rd minute in a 5-1 win. He has also been an unused substitute twice for Algeria’s senior side in friendly games against Cape Verde and Egypt in October 2023.
