Samir Nasri

Samir Nasri (born 26 June 1987) is a French former professional footballer.

He primarily played as an attacking midfielder and a winger, although he had also been deployed in central midfield.

Nasri was known for his dribbling, ball control and passing ability.

His playing style, ability and cultural background drew comparisons to former French player Zinedine Zidane.

Nasri began his football career playing for local youth clubs in his hometown Marseille.

At age nine, he joined professional club Olympique de Marseille and spent the next seven years developing in the club's youth academy at La Commanderie, the club's training centre.

In the 2004–05 season, he made his professional debut in September 2004 at age 17 against Sochaux.

Prior to playing for the senior team, he played on the under-17 team that won the 2004 UEFA European Under-17 Championship.

In the following season, he became a regular starter in the team and participated in European competition for the first time after playing in the 2005–06 edition of the UEFA Cup.

In the 2006–07 campaign, Nasri won the National Union of Professional Footballers (UNFP) Young Player of the Year award and was also named to the Team of the Year.

He finished his career with Marseille amassing over 160 appearances.

He played in the teams that reached back-to-back Coupe de France finals in 2006 and 2007.

Nasri made his senior international debut in March 2007 in a friendly match against Austria.

In June 2008, Nasri joined Premier League club Arsenal on a four-year contract.

He reached prominence with the team in his third season winning the Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) Fans' Player of the Month award on three occasions and being named to the association's Team of the Year.

Two months later, he scored his first senior international goal in a 1–0 UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying win over Georgia.

Nasri represented France at two major international tournaments: UEFA Euro 2008 and Euro 2012.

In December 2010, he was named the French Player of the Year for his performances during the calendar year.

In August 2011, after three seasons with Arsenal, Nasri joined Manchester City on a four-year contract.

In his first season with the club, he won his first major honour as a player as the club won the 2011–12 Premier League.

In 2014, Nasri announced his retirement from international football after being omitted from the 2014 World Cup.

Nasri was born in Septèmes-les-Vallons, a northern suburb of Marseille, to French nationals of Algerian descent.

His mother, Ouassila Ben Saïd, and father, Abdelhafid Nasri, were both born in France; his father being born and raised in Marseille, and his mother being from nearby Salon-de-Provence.

Nasri's grandparents emigrated to France from Algeria.

His mother is a housewife and his father previously worked as a bus driver before becoming his son's personal manager.

At the start of his football career, Nasri initially played under his mother's surname, Ben Saïd, before switching to Nasri, his father's surname, following his selection to the France under-16 team.

He is the eldest of four children and is a Muslim.

Nasri has a younger sister named Sonia and twin brothers named Walid and Malik.

All four were raised in La Gavotte Peyret.

After joining Arsenal in England, Nasri settled in Hampstead, a district of North London.

His cousin, Kaïs Nasri, is also a professional footballer.

While growing up in La Gavotte Peyret, Nasri regularly played the sport on the streets where he learned many of his skills.

Upon noticing his prodigious talent, his parents signed him up to play with the local club in his hometown.

Nasri spent one year playing with the club in La Gavotte Peyret before moving to Pennes Mirabeau in nearby Mirabeau at age seven.

While playing with Pennes, Nasri was discovered by Marseille scout Freddy Assolen, who had been informed of the player's talent through local word of mouth.

After noticing Nasri's skill in person, Assolen recruited the player to travel with a group of other young players to Italy to participate in a youth tournament where they would play against the youth academies of Milan and Juventus.

Nasri impressed at the tournament and Assolen was jokingly told by a Milan scout that "he [Nasri] stays here, you leave him".

In 2017, Nasri was suspended from football for eighteen months until January 2019 following a doping violation.

Nasri announced his professional retirement from football in 2021.

Nasri is a former France youth international and represented his nation at every level for which he was eligible.