Gai Yigaal Assulin ( he, גיא יגאל אסולין; born 9 April 1991) is an Israeli 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 ...

who plays as a winger or an

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. He last played for

Serie D The Serie D () is the top level of semi-professional football in the country. The fourth tier of the Italian league system, the competition sits beneath the third professional league, Serie C. It is administered by the Lega Nazionale Dilettant ...

club Crema. As a teenager, he was registered at

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ...

and

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The two ...

, but did not make a league appearance for either team. He subsequently became a

journeyman A journeyman, journeywoman, or journeyperson is a worker, skilled in a given building trade or craft, who has successfully completed an official apprenticeship qualification. Journeymen are considered competent and authorized to work in that f ...

, spending short spells at a variety of teams mostly in Spain. Assulin was capped 22 times by the Israel national under-21 team and once in 2008 by the senior team, becoming their youngest player of all-time.

Early life

Assulin was born in

Nahariya Nahariya ( he, נַהֲרִיָּה, ar, نهاريا) is the northernmost coastal city in Israel. In it had a population of . Etymology Nahariya takes its name from the stream of Ga'aton (river is ''nahar'' in Hebrew), which bisects it. His ...

, Israel. He started his career in the football school of

Hapoel Haifa Hapoel Haifa Football Club ( he, מועדון הכדורגל הפועל חיפה, ''Moadon HaKaduregel Hapoel Haifa'') is an Israeli football club located in the city of Haifa. The club won one championship (1998–99) and 4 Israeli cups ( ...

. In 1999, at age seven, he moved to the

Beitar Tubruk Beitar Nes Tubruk Netanya ( he, בית"ר נס טוברוק נתניה), formerly Beitar Netanya, is a football club in Netanya, Israel. History Beitar Netanya The original Beitar Netanya team spent several years in the lower divisions, mainly ...

youth ranks. In 2003, when he was just 12,

Shlomo Scharf Shlomo Scharf ( he, שלמה שרף; born 1 January 1943) is a former Israeli football player and manager who now works as a regular commentator on Israeli Sport 5 TV channel. Scharf managed Maccabi Haifa to three championships, and was Israel na ...

, his team coach, proposed to Assulin's parents to consider taking their young prospect to try out for

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional Football team, football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish footb ...

, where he was accepted into the youth ranks.

Club career

Barcelona

In August 2007, Assulin graduated to the

FC Barcelona B FC may refer to: Businesses, organisations, and schools * Fergusson College, a science and arts college in Pune, India * Finncomm Airlines (IATA code) * FranklinCovey company, NYSE stock symbol FC * Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force in Pakis ...

team, and was offered a new contract, a senior contract (a contract granted only after the player turns 16) for another three years and a €20 million buy-out clause. At the end of the 2007–08 season, Barcelona B won the league title with 83 points, and the manager,

Pep Guardiola Josep "Pep" Guardiola Sala (; born 18 January 1971) is a Spanish professional football manager and former player, who is the current manager of club Manchester City. He is considered one of the greatest managers of all time and holds the ...

, was promoted to the job of senior team manager. Assulin was rumored to be one of the players that Guardiola would promote to the first team. After missing most of the 2008–09 season due to injury, Assulin received an invitation to participate in pre-season matches with the Barcelona first team. He made his debut first-team start in a competitive match of the

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footb ...

against Cultural Leonesa on 28 October 2009, before being replaced by

Eric Abidal Eric Sylvain Abidal (; born 11 September 1979) is a French former professional footballer who played as a left-back or centre-back. In his career, he played mainly for Lyon and Barcelona, winning 18 trophies with both teams combined, including t ...

after 56 minutes. Due to the lengthy 2009–10 season, many Barcelona players were given breaks towards the end of the year, so on 29 December 2009 Guardiola brought in Assulin and his teammates Víctor Vázquez,

Thiago Alcântara Thiago Alcântara do Nascimento ( es, Alcántara; born 11 April 1991), or simply Thiago (; ), is a professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Premier League club Liverpool and the Spain national team. Born in Italy to Brazi ...

and

Jonathan dos Santos Jonathan dos Santos Ramírez (; ; born 26 April 1990) is a Mexican professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Liga MX club América. Early life Born in Monterrey, Mexico, Jonathan was competing along with his brother G ...

. On 1 July 2010, Assulin and Barcelona parted ways by mutual consent. They offered him a three-year contract but as they could not offer him a guaranteed first-team squad position and instead sought to develop him at Barcelona B, he refused the offer. Assulin also had a complicated relationship with the manager of Barcelona B,

Luis Enrique Luis Enrique Martínez García (; born 8 May 1970), known as Luis Enrique, is a Spanish football manager and former player. A versatile player with good technique, he was capable of playing in several different positions, but usually played a ...

Manchester City

On 14 December 2010, Assulin joined

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

club

on a two-and-a-half-year deal. He spoke of his wishes to partner his former Barcelona teammate

Yaya Touré Gnégnéri Yaya Touré (born 13 May 1983) is an Ivorian professional football coach and former player who played as a midfielder. He is an academy coach for Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur. Touré aspired to be a striker during his you ...

at the club. The early part of 2011 saw Assulin make his City Reserve squad debut against

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional Association football, football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football league system, English football. The club was ...

, coming on as a second-half substitute in a 5–1 win. On 17 November 2011, Assulin declared that he was prepared to be loaned out from Manchester City in order to receive first-team action. He had so far failed to receive a call-up from first-team manager

Roberto Mancini Roberto Mancini (; born 27 November 1964) is an Italian football manager and former player. He is currently the manager of the Italy national team. As a player, Mancini operated as a deep-lying forward, and was best known for his time at Sampd ...

but was too old to play in the inaugural under-19

NextGen series The NextGen Series was a European football club cup competition for under-19 footballers. It was designed to provide players with the opportunity to match themselves against other elite European footballers of their agegroup in a competitive envi ...

with the City Elite Development Squad, restricting him to playing occasionally for the Reserves. Assulin said: "I need confidence and I can only get that by playing regularly. City and I both feel that I should go out on loan so I can play every week. I could stay in England or maybe join a team in the Spanish second division". Six days later,

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

side Barnsley announced that they had agreed a loan deal until 3 January 2012, with their manager Keith Hill saying that he was impressed by his performance for Israel under-21 against England at the club's

Oakwell Oakwell is a multi-purpose sports development in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England used primarily by Barnsley Football Club for playing their home fixtures, and those of their reserves. While the name 'Oakwell' generally refers to the main ...

ground that September. After fitness issues came up, the deal collapsed. On 9 February 2012, Assulin scored for the Manchester City Elite Development Squad in their 4–2 derby win over rivals

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

. He entered the

Manchester Senior Cup The Manchester FA Senior Cup (originally known as the Manchester and District Challenge Cup, later the Manchester Cup) is an annual football tournament held between the clubs of the Manchester Football Association which was first played in 1885 ...

tie at half-time as a substitute for

Denis Suárez Denis Suárez Fernández (; born 6 January 1994) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for La Liga club Espanyol, on loan from Celta Vigo. Club career Early years Born in Salceda de Caselas, Pontevedra, Galicia, Suárez ...

, and scored their 2–2 equaliser in the 65th minute and he also assisted for the fourth goal in stoppage time. Eight days later, Assulin, along with fellow City youngster

Abdul Razak ʻAbd al-Razzāq ( ALA-LC romanization of ar, عبد الرزاق) is a male Muslim given name, and in modern usage, surname. It is built from the Arabic words '' ʻabd'' and ''al-Razzāq'', one of the names of God in the Qur'an, which give rise ...

, joined

side

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...

on an initial one-month loan until 19 March, but with the option to extend this by two months. Manager

Gustavo Poyet Gustavo Augusto Poyet Domínguez (; born 15 November 1967) is a Uruguayan professional football manager and former footballer. He is currently the head coach of the Greece national football team. Poyet played as a midfielder and began his caree ...

described the loan move for Assulin as a "no-brainer" and a "unique opportunity." Assulin made his Brighton debut on 22 February against

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving from Boothferry Park in 2002. The club's ...

, coming on as a substitute for Razak in the 77th minute of their 0–0 draw. He made his first start against

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...

on 7 March and was substituted after 59 minutes of a 2–2 home draw. On 19 March, after one start and three substitute appearances, Brighton exercised their option to extend Assulin's loan deal until the end of the season. Assulin was released from Manchester City on 22 May 2012, alongside

Owen Hargreaves Owen Lee Hargreaves (born 20 January 1981) is a former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He was known as a hard-working and "solid defensive midfielder who worked tirelessly to win the ball" and provide his teammates with posses ...

Later career

On 11 July 2012, Assulin signed a one-year deal with recently relegated

Racing de Santander Real Racing Club de Santander, S.A.D. (), also known as Racing de Santander () or simply Racing, is a football club based in Santander, Cantabria, Spain, that currently competes in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league syst ...

. Six days later, he was introduced as a player in a press conference. On the opening game of the season on 19 August, he made his debut in a 1–0 loss against

Las Palmas Las Palmas (, ; ), officially Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is a Spain, Spanish city and capital of Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital (jointly with Santa Cruz de Tenerife), the most populous city in th ...

; he soon scored his first goal, on 15 September, in a 3–0 win over

Recreativo de Huelva Real Club Recreativo de Huelva, S.A.D. () is a Spanish football club based in Huelva, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded on 23 December 1889, 2 days before Christmas, they are the oldest football club in Spain, and currently play i ...

, giving the club their first win of the campaign. On 5 July 2013, Assulin signed a three-year deal with

Granada CF Granada Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. (), known simply as Granada, is a Spanish football club based in the city of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, that plays in the Segunda División, after being relegated from La Liga in the 2021 ...

, being immediately loaned to Segunda División's

Hércules CF Hércules de Alicante Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. () is a Spanish football team in Alicante, in the autonomous community of Valencian Community. Founded on 25 October 1922, it currently plays in Segunda División RFEF – Group 3 and plays its home ...

in a

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and po ...

-long deal. He appeared regularly for the

Valencian Valencian () or Valencian language () is the official, historical and traditional name used in the Valencian Community (Spain), and unofficially in the Carche, El Carche comarca in Región de Murcia, Murcia (Spain), to refer to the Romance lan ...

outfit, which were relegated after finishing dead last. In his second game, a goalless draw at

CD Tenerife Club Deportivo Tenerife, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club based in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Tenerife, in the Canary Islands. Founded in 1912, the club plays in the Segunda División, holding home matches at the Estadio Heliodoro Rodríguez L� ...

on 25 August, he was sent off for kicking out at Carlos Ruiz. On 15 August 2014, Assulin signed a two-year deal with

RCD Mallorca Real Club Deportivo Mallorca, S.A.D. (, ca, Reial Club Deportiu Mallorca , ''Royal Sporting Club Mallorca''), commonly known as Real Mallorca or just Mallorca is a Spanish professional football club based in Palma on the island of Majorca in ...

, also in the second level. In October 2015, free agent Assulin trialled with

Rangers A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...

of the

Scottish Championship The Scottish Championship, known as the cinch Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish Champio ...

; Manager

Mark Warburton Mark Warburton (born 6 September 1962) is an English professional football manager and former player who is a first-team coach at West Ham United. As a player, Warburton was a right back at non-League level with Enfield and Boreham Wood. ...

was not sufficiently impressed to offer him a contract. After a brief spell at

Hapoel Tel Aviv Hapoel Tel Aviv ( he, הפועל תל אביב) is a sports club in Israel, founded in the 1920s, and part of the Hapoel association. It runs several sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv which have competed in a variety of sports over the years, suc ...

– his first experience of the

Israeli Premier League The Israeli Premier League ( he, ליגת העל, ''Ligat Ha`Al'', ), is a professional association football league which operates as the highest division of the Israeli Football League – the state's league of Israel. The league is contested ...

– he went back to Spain to sign for

CE Sabadell FC Centre d'Esports Sabadell Futbol Club, S.A.D. () is a Spanish football team based in Sabadell, a city in the province of Barcelona in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Founded in 1903, it plays in Segunda División RFEF – Group 2, holding ...

in the third tier on 10 August 2016. He departed the Catalan club in January 2018 after his contract was terminated by mutual consent. On 13 February 2018,

Kazakhstan Premier League The Kazakhstan Professional Football League ( kk, Қазақстан Премьер Лигасы, ''Qazaqstan Premer Ligasy''), commonly referred to as Kazakh Premier League or simply Premier League, is the top division of football in Kazakhstan ...

side

FC Kairat Football Club Kairat ( kk, Qaırat Fýtbol Klýby) is a professional football club based in Almaty, which plays in the Kazakhstan Premier League, the highest level of Kazakh football. Founded in 1954 as Lokomotiv Alma-Ata, they became Urozhay in ...

announced the signing of Assulin on a two-year contract. On 30 March, it was cancelled by mutual consent. On 26 September 2019, Assulin signed a two-year contract with

Liga I The Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1, is a Romanian professional league for men's association football clubs. Currently sponsored by betting company Superbet, it is officially known as the SuperLiga. It is the country's top ...

club Politehnica Iași. On 13 February 2021, he was announced as a new player for Italy's

club Crema. He left the club by the end of the season.

International career

Assulin was called up by the

Israeli national football team The Israel national football team ( he, נבחרת ישראל בכדורגל, ) represents Israel in international football, and is governed by the Israel Football Association (IFA). Israel's national team is the direct successor of the ...

for their friendly match against

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the eas ...

on March 26, 2008. He debuted for

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

as a substitute in the 78th minute of the friendly, 14 days before his 17th birthday. By playing in this match, he broke

Ben Sahar Ben Sahar ( he, בן שׂהר, changed the Hebrew spelling of his surname from ; born 10 August 1989) is an Israeli professional footballer who plays as a striker for Maccabi Haifa and the Israel national team. At 16, Sahar was the equivalent o ...

's record for youngest national team debut by 195 days. He went on to represent the Israeli under-21 national team in preparation at the

2013 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship Thirteen or 13 may refer to: * 13 (number), the natural number following 12 and preceding 14 * One of the years 13 BC, AD 13, 1913, 2013 Music * 13AD (band), an Indian classic and hard rock band Albums * ''13'' (Black Sabbath album), 2013 ...

, hosted in the country.

Career statistics

Club

References

External links

*
2009–10 Barcelona B squadOfficial website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Assulin, Gai 1991 births Living people Israeli footballers Jewish Israeli sportspeople FC Barcelona Atlètic players FC Barcelona players Manchester City F.C. players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Racing de Santander players RCD Mallorca players CE Sabadell FC footballers FC Politehnica Iași (2010) players English Football League players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Israeli Premier League players Liga I players Israel under-21 international footballers Israel international footballers Israeli expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Kazakhstan Expatriate footballers in Romania Expatriate footballers in Italy Israeli expatriate sportspeople in Spain Israeli expatriate sportspeople in England Israeli expatriate sportspeople in Kazakhstan Israeli expatriate sportspeople in Romania Israeli expatriate sportspeople in Italy Naturalised citizens of Spain Footballers from Nahariya Association football wingers Association football midfielders