Mukhtar Abdullah Ali (, born 30 October 1997) is a Saudi Arabian 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

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for the Saudi Arabia national team and for

Al-Ettifaq Al-Ettifaq Club (), commonly known as Al-Ettifaq or simply Ettifaq, is a professional football club in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, which competes in the Saudi Pro League. The club was established by the merger of three Dammam-based clubs in 1945. Al- ...

Club career

Chelsea

In 2008, Ali joined Chelsea at under-11 level from

Leyton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club, commonly referred to as Orient, is a professional association football club based in Leyton, Waltham Forest, London, England. The team compete in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. ...

and progressed through the club's academy system. He was part of the Chelsea youth side which recorded back to back triumphs in the

FA Youth Cup The Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under-18 sides. Only those players between the age of 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season are eligible to take part. It ...

in 2015 and 2016. With 42 appearances in all competitions he was the second-leading appearance maker in the academy and was also nominated for International Somali Sportsman of the Year.

Vitesse

On 29 January 2017, Ali joined Vitesse on loan for the remainder of the 2016–17 campaign. On 19 February 2017, Ali made his Vitesse debut in their 1–0 home defeat against

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * Ajax (play), ''Ajax'' (play), by the an ...

, replacing Marvelous Nakamba in the 84th minute. On 4 February 2017, he played his first match for Jong Vitesse against

SV Spakenburg Sportvereniging Spakenburg is a association football, football club based in Bunschoten, Bunschoten-Spakenburg, Netherlands, that competes in the Tweede Divisie, the third tier of the Dutch football league system. The club was founded on 15 Augu ...

. Ali went onto appear in five more league games during his loan spell. On 17 July 2017, Vitesse permanently signed Ali on a three-year deal.

Al-Nassr

On 31 August 2019, Al-Nassr signed Mukhtar Ali on a one-year deal from Vitesse. On 29 January 2022, he renewed his contract with Al-Nassr until 2025 and was loaned out to Al-Tai. On 29 August 2022, Mukhtar Ali rejoined Al-Tai on a one-year loan. On 7 September 2023, Mukhtar Ali joined

Al-Fateh ''Al-Fateh'' (, "The Conqueror") was an online children's magazine in Arabic. It began publication in September 2002, and its 108th issue was released in mid-September 2007. The magazine featured stories, poems, riddles, and puzzles. Criticism ...

on a one-year loan.

Al-Ettifaq

On 29 January 2025, Ali joined

on a four-and-a-half year deal.

International career

Ali represented England at both under-16 and under-17 level and was also eligible to represent

Somalia Somalia, officially the Federal Republic of Somalia, is the easternmost country in continental Africa. The country is located in the Horn of Africa and is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, Kenya to the southwest, th ...

, the country of his parents. However, he pledged his allegiance to the Saudi Arabia national team, and made his senior debut on 7 October 2017 against

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

. This was possibly based on the player's assertion that he was instead born in

Jeddah Jeddah ( ), alternatively transliterated as Jedda, Jiddah or Jidda ( ; , ), is a List of governorates of Saudi Arabia, governorate and the largest city in Mecca Province, Saudi Arabia, and the country's second largest city after Riyadh, located ...

, Saudi Arabia.

Career statistics

Honours

Club

Chelsea Reserves *

: 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16 *

UEFA Youth League The UEFA Youth League is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) since 2013. In its current format, it is contested by the under-19 teams of the clubs competing in the UEFA Champions Le ...

: 2015–16 Vitesse *

KNVB Cup The KNVB Beker (; ), branded as the TOTO KNVB Beker for sponsorship reasons, is a competition in the Netherlands organised by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) since 1898. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Outside the N ...

: 2016–17 Al-Nassr *

Saudi Super Cup The Saudi Super Cup () is the annual super cup tournament in Saudi Arabian football. Founded in 2013 as a two-team competition, the Super Cup has been contested by four teams since 2022: the winners and runners-up of the King's Cup and the Sa ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

Arab Club Champions Cup The Arab Club Champions Cup (, ) is a club football competition organised by the Union of Arab Football Associations (UAFA) and contested by top clubs from the Arab world. The tournament is contested by a total of 37 teams from Asia and Africa. F ...

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ali, Mukhtar 1997 births Living people Footballers from Jeddah Saudi Arabian men's footballers 21st-century Saudi Arabian sportsmen Saudi Arabia men's international footballers English men's footballers English people of Saudi Arabian descent Saudi Arabian people of Somali descent England men's youth international footballers English people of Somali descent Naturalised citizens of Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabian emigrants to the United Kingdom Somalian emigrants to the United Kingdom Men's association football midfielders Chelsea F.C. players SBV Vitesse players Leyton Orient F.C. players Al-Nassr FC players Al-Tai FC players Al Fateh SC players Al-Ettifaq FC players Saudi Pro League players Eredivisie players Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Saudi Arabian expatriate sportspeople in England Saudi Arabian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Footballers from London Olympic footballers for Saudi Arabia Footballers at the 2020 Summer Olympics 2023 AFC Asian Cup players 21st-century English sportsmen 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup players