Mehdi Boukassi switches continents to join USM Khenchela

Algerian-Belgian attacking midfielder Mehdi Boukassi has joined Algerian Ligue 1 club USM Khenchela from Czech side SFC Opava on a free transfer.

Boukassi, 30, completed the move on 23 August 2026 after spending the first part of the 2026-27 season with Opava. He becomes a new midfield option for Khenchela, having been registered as an attacking midfielder and favouring his right foot.

The move marks a return to Algeria for the player, who was born in Sidi Bel Abbes and holds Algerian and Belgian nationality. He stands at 1.83m and began his football education in Algeria with JMG Algier before moving to Belgium.

Boukassi joined Charleroi’s youth system in 2012 and progressed through the club’s under-17 and under-19 teams. He moved to the Netherlands in 2016 to join Roda JC’s under-21 side, before beginning his senior career in Portugal with Oliveirense in 2017.

After leaving Portugal, Boukassi joined Bulgaria’s Cherno More as a free agent in September 2019. He later moved to Georgia with Torpedo Kutaisi in January 2021, also on a free transfer, before switching to Iraq’s Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya in January 2022.

Boukassi returned to Morocco in July 2022 when he joined Raja Casablanca on a free transfer. He then spent part of the 2022-23 campaign on loan at Finnish club FC Haka, returning to Raja at the end of December 2023.

His next move took him to Lebanon, where he joined Tadamon Sour in January 2024. Following that spell, Boukassi was without a club before signing for Bulgarian side Botev Vratsa in October 2024.

He moved to SFC Opava in January 2026, continuing a career that has taken him through clubs in Belgium, the Netherlands, Portugal, Bulgaria, Georgia, Iraq, Morocco, Finland, Lebanon and the Czech Republic.

Boukassi now begins his latest chapter with USM Khenchela, completing a free transfer to the Ligue 1 club on 23 August 2026.