Aymen Abdennour (Arabic: أيمن عبد النور; born 6 August 1989) is a Tunisian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back.

Aymen Abdennour
Abdennour playing for Valencia in 2015
Personal information
Date of birth (1989-08-06) 6 August 1989 (age 34)
Place of birth Sousse, Tunisia
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position(s) Centre back
Youth career
2007–2008 Étoile du Sahel
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2008–2011 Étoile du Sahel 33 (5)
2010Werder Bremen (loan) 6 (0)
2011–2014 Toulouse 77 (3)
2014Monaco (loan) 6 (0)
2014–2015 Monaco 18 (0)
2015–2019 Valencia 35 (0)
2017–2019Marseille (loan) 8 (0)
2019–2020 Kayserispor 12 (0)
2020–2022 Umm Salal 37 (1)
2022–2023 Rodez 7 (0)
International career
2009–2010 Tunisia U21 3 (0)
2009– Tunisia 53 (2)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 28 June 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 8 January 2023

A full international with over 53 caps since 2009, he represented Tunisia at three Africa Cup of Nations tournaments.

Club career edit

Early career edit

Abdennour was born in Sousse, Tunisia, and started his career at Étoile Sportive du Sahel in 2008. During his spell there, he became the favourite player by fans despite being one of the youngest players in the team. In the 2008–09 season he scored five goals for his club, but they missed on the title and finished third.

On 14 January 2010, Abdennour signed a half-year loan deal with Werder Bremen which initially saw him stay at the club until the end of the 2009–10 season. Bremen had the contract option to sign him permanently.[1] Abdennour made six appearances for Werder Bremen, but they did not take up the option to sign him and he returned to Étoile.

Toulouse edit

In July 2011, Abdennour signed a four-year contract with the Ligue 1 side Toulouse. In February 2012, Toulouse extended this, tying the Tunisian to a deal running until 2016.

Monaco edit

On 31 January 2014, Abdennour joined the league rivals Monaco on a loan deal.[2] After impressing during a loan spell, he signed a four-year deal with Monaco on 4 July 2014.[3] The 2014–15 season was a successful season for Abdennour and his team, with a third place in Ligue 1 and an elimination against Champions League finalist Juventus in the quarter final.

Valencia edit

In August 2015, after a good season with Monaco, Abdennour signed a five-year deal until 2020 with La Liga side Valencia CF for an undisclosed fee, mainly as a replacement to Manchester City-bound Nicolás Otamendi.[4]

Loan to Marseille edit

On 29 August 2017, Abdennour returned to France to play for Marseille, on a two-year loan deal.[5]

Kayserispor edit

On 11 July 2019, it was announced that following Abdennour's release from Valencia, that he would immediately join Turkish Süper Lig club Kayserispor.

Umm Salal edit

On 16 September 2020, Abdennour moved to Qatar to play for Umm Salal.[6]

Rodez edit

On 30 August 2022, Abdennour signed for Ligue 2 club Rodez on a season-long contract.[7]

International career edit

His excellent domestic performances earned him a call-up to the Tunisia squad, and, as of July 2019, has won 53 caps for his country,[8] scoring one goal.

He was also the captain of the under-21 team.[9]

Career statistics edit

International edit

As of matches played on 19 July 2019[10]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Tunisia 2008 0 0
2009 1 0
2010 1 0
2011 5 1
2012 11 0
2013 10 0
2014 6 0
2015 8 0
2016 6 1
2017 5 0
Total 53 2

Honours edit

Individual

References edit

  1. ^ "Officiel – Abdennour prêté au Werder Brême" [Official - Abdennour loan to Werder Bremen] (in French). etoile-du-sahel.com. 14 January 2010. Archived from the original on 18 January 2010.
  2. ^ "Aymen Abdennour nouveau renfort défensif" [Aymen Abdennour new defensive reinforcement] (in French). AS Monaco FC. 31 January 2014. Archived from the original on 18 February 2014.
  3. ^ "Abdennour définitivement monégasque" [Abdennour definitely Monaco's player] (in French). AS Monaco FC. 4 July 2014. Archived from the original on 19 August 2014.
  4. ^ "Valencia sign Aymen Abdennour from Monaco". Fox Sports. 29 August 2015. Retrieved 29 August 2015.
  5. ^ "Aymen Abdennour rejoint l'Olympique de Marseille".
  6. ^ "Aymen Abdennour joined to Umm Salal".
  7. ^ "LIGUE 2 BKT : AYMEN ABDENNOUR, DOUZIEME RECRUE DE LA SAISON 22/23". Rodez Aveyron Football (in French). 30 August 2022. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  8. ^ "Aymen Abdennour". kicker.de (in German). Retrieved 19 December 2015.
  9. ^ "Werder Bremen testet Tunesier Abdennour" (in German). ran.de. 8 December 2009. Archived from the original on 27 April 2010. Retrieved 27 January 2010.
  10. ^ Aymen Abdennour at National-Football-Teams.com
  11. ^ hamza (25 December 2015). "Les meilleurs sportifs tunisiens de l'année 2015 (TAP): Saber Khelifa, Malej Jaziri, Habiba El Ghribi... | Directinfo" (in French). Retrieved 28 May 2023.
  12. ^ "CAF – CAF Awards – Previous Editions – 2016". CAFOnline. Retrieved 7 January 2017.

External links edit