Aymen Abdennour (; born 6 August 1989) is a Tunisian Former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

. A full international with over 53 caps since 2009, he represented

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

at three

Africa Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations, commonly abbreviated as AFCON and officially known as the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, is the main biennial international men's association football competition in Africa. It is s ...

tournaments.

Club career

Early career

Abdennour was born in

Sousse Sousse, Sūsah , or Soussa (, ), is a city in Tunisia, capital of the Sousse Governorate. Located south of the capital Tunis, the city has 271,428 inhabitants (2014). Sousse is in the central-east of the country, on the Gulf of Hammamet, which ...

, Tunisia, and started his career at

Étoile Sportive du Sahel Étoile Sportive du Sahel (), known as ES Sahel or simply ESS for short, is a Tunisian football club based in Sousse in the Sahel, Tunisia, Sahel region of Tunisia. Their home stadium, Sousse Olympic Stadium, has a capacity of 50,000 spectators ...

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 Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 e. V. (), commonly known as Werder Bremen, Werder or simply Bremen, is a German professional sports club based in Bremen. Founded on 4 February 1899, Werder are best known for their professional association foo ...

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. Abdennour made six appearances for Werder Bremen, but they did not take up the option to sign him and he returned to Étoile.

Toulouse

In July 2011, Abdennour signed a four-year contract with the

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

side

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

. In February 2012, Toulouse extended this, tying the Tunisian to a deal running until 2016.

Monaco

On 31 January 2014, Abdennour joined the league rivals

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

on a loan deal. After impressing during a loan spell, he signed a four-year deal with Monaco on 4 July 2014. 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 Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...

in the quarter final.

Valencia

In August 2015, after a good season with Monaco, Abdennour signed a five-year deal until 2020 with

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

side

Valencia CF Valencia Club de Fútbol, S. A. D. (; ), commonly referred to as Valencia CF or simply Valencia, is a Spanish professional Association football, football club based in Valencia, Spain, that currently plays in La Liga, the top tier of the Spani ...

for an undisclosed fee, mainly as a replacement to

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

-bound

Nicolás Otamendi Nicolás Hernán Gonzalo Otamendi (born 12 February 1988) is an Argentine professional Association football, footballer who plays as a centre back, centre-back for Primeira Liga club S.L. Benfica, Benfica, which he Captain (association football) ...

Loan to Marseille

On 29 August 2017, Abdennour returned to France to play for

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

, on a two-year loan deal.

Kayserispor

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

Kayserispor Kayseri Spor Kulübü, commonly known as Kayserispor, and also called Bellona Kayserispor due to sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional football club based in Kayseri. They play their home matches at the RHG Enertürk Enerji Stadium ...

Umm Salal

On 16 September 2020, Abdennour moved to Qatar to play for

Umm Salal Umm Salal (; also spelled Umm Slal) is a municipalities of Qatar, municipality in the State of Qatar. Historic landmarks such as the Barzan Tower are located in Umm Salal.The municipal headquarters is located in Umm Salal Ali, about 10 km ...

Rodez

On 30 August 2022, Abdennour signed for

Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsorship reasons, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Prof ...

club

Rodez Rodez (, , ; , ) is a small city and commune in the South of France, about 150 km northeast of Toulouse. It is the prefecture of the department of Aveyron, region of Occitania (formerly Midi-Pyrénées). Rodez is the seat of the communau ...

on a season-long contract.

International career

His excellent domestic performances earned him a call-up to the

squad, and, , has won 53 caps for his country, scoring one goal. He was also the captain of the under-21 team.

Career statistics

International

Honours

Individual * Tunisian Footballer of the Year: 2015 * CAF Team of the Year: 2016

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Abdennour, Aymen 1989 births Living people Footballers from Sousse Men's association football defenders Tunisian men's footballers Tunisia men's international footballers 2011 African Nations Championship players 2012 Africa Cup of Nations players 2013 Africa Cup of Nations players 2015 Africa Cup of Nations players 2017 Africa Cup of Nations players Étoile Sportive du Sahel players SV Werder Bremen players Toulouse FC players AS Monaco FC players Valencia CF players Olympique de Marseille players Kayserispor footballers Umm Salal SC players Rodez AF players Bundesliga players Ligue 1 players La Liga players Süper Lig players Qatar Stars League players Ligue 2 players Tunisian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in France Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Expatriate men's footballers in Qatar Tunisian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Tunisian expatriate sportspeople in France Tunisian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Tunisian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Tunisian expatriate sportspeople in Qatar Tunisia men's A' international footballers