Samir Nasri was born on 26 June 1987 and is a French former professional footballer.
92 Facts About Samir Nasri
2.
Samir Nasri primarily played as an attacking midfielder and a winger, although he had been deployed in central midfield.
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Samir Nasri was described as a player whose "vision and imagination make him an unpredictable opponent".
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Samir Nasri's playing style, ability and cultural background drew comparisons to former French player Zinedine Zidane.
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Samir Nasri began his football career playing for local youth clubs in his hometown Marseille.
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Samir Nasri finished his career with Marseille amassing over 160 appearances.
7.
Samir Nasri played in the teams that reached back-to-back Coupe de France finals in 2006 and 2007.
8.
In June 2008, Samir Nasri joined Premier League club Arsenal on a four-year contract.
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Samir Nasri reached prominence with the team in his third season winning the Professional Footballers' Association Fans' Player of the Month award on three occasions and being named to the association's Team of the Year.
10.
In 2017, Samir Nasri was suspended from football for eighteen months until January 2019 following a doping violation.
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Samir Nasri is a former France youth international and represented his nation at every level for which he was eligible.
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Samir Nasri made his senior international debut in March 2007 in a friendly match against Austria.
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Samir Nasri represented France at two major international tournaments: UEFA Euro 2008 and Euro 2012.
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In 2014, Samir Nasri announced his retirement from international football after being omitted from the 2014 World Cup.
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Samir Nasri was born in Septemes-les-Vallons, a northern suburb of Marseille, to French nationals of Algerian descent.
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Samir Nasri's mother, Ouassila Ben Said, 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.
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Samir Nasri's mother is a housewife and his father previously worked as a bus driver before becoming his son's personal manager.
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At the start of his football career, Samir Nasri initially played under his mother's surname, Ben Said, before switching to Samir Nasri, his father's surname, following his selection to the France under-16 team.
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Samir Nasri is the eldest of four children and is a Muslim.
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Samir Nasri has a younger sister named Sonia and twin brothers named Walid and Malik.
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Samir Nasri spent one year playing with the club in La Gavotte Peyret before moving to Pennes Mirabeau in nearby Mirabeau at age seven.
22.
Samir Nasri impressed at the tournament and Assolen was jokingly told by a Milan scout that "he [Samir Nasri] stays here, you leave him".
23.
Samir Nasri appeared primarily as a substitute in a few matches during the campaign as the reserve team failed to rebound from its bad start to the season, which resulted in a 16th-place finish and relegation to the Championnat de France amateur 2.
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Samir Nasri began the season playing on the club's reserve team and appeared in four matches before earning a call up to the senior team in September 2004.
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Samir Nasri featured heavily within the team under Anigo and later Philippe Troussier.
26.
Samir Nasri finished his rookie campaign with 25 total appearances, one goal and two assists.
27.
Samir Nasri, who was now given a more prominent role within the team by new manager Jean Fernandez, formed impressive partnerships with the two along with lead striker Mamadou Niang.
28.
Samir Nasri appeared in 49 total matches, which included appearances in both the UEFA Cup and the UEFA Intertoto Cup.
29.
Samir Nasri made his European debut on 16 July 2005 in the first round of the 2005 UEFA Intertoto Cup against Swiss club Young Boys.
30.
Samir Nasri finished the season with a career-high 50 appearances, 37 of them in the league.
31.
Similar to his previous three years at Marseille, Samir Nasri began the new season under new management as the club was now being led by the Belgian Eric Gerets.
32.
Samir Nasri appeared in 42 total matches scoring a career-high six goals, assisting on a career-high 15 goals.
33.
Samir Nasri formed partnerships in the midfield with winger Mathieu Valbuena and midfielders Lorik Cana and Benoit Cheyrou as Marseille boasted the third-best attack in the league behind champions Lyon and Bordeaux, who finished first and second in the league respectively.
34.
Samir Nasri failed to score a goal or provide an assist in the team's first eight league matches.
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In European competition, Samir Nasri participated in the UEFA Champions League for the first time in his career, however he failed to make an impact in the four group stage matches he appeared in.
36.
Samir Nasri missed the club's upset victory over Liverpool at Anfield due to dealing with a bout of meningitis.
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Samir Nasri loves training and watches game after game on TV.
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Samir Nasri uses things he has seen to help correct mistakes in his own game.
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One week later, despite signing a contract extension with Marseille, Samir Nasri was linked with a move to Premier League club Arsenal.
40.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger had been tracking Samir Nasri since watching him play at the 2004 UEFA European Under-17 Championship.
41.
The deal was ultimately concluded following the competition on 11 July 2008 with Samir Nasri agreeing to a four-year contract.
42.
Samir Nasri returned to his scoring form in the new year.
43.
Samir Nasri finished his first campaign at Arsenal appearing in 44 matches, scoring seven goals and providing five assists.
44.
On 21 July 2009, while participating in a training match during pre-season with Arsenal in Bad Waltersdorf, Samir Nasri suffered a broken leg.
45.
Samir Nasri made his debut late in the campaign on 25 October 2009 in a League Cup tie against Liverpool.
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The goal, described by English newspaper The Guardian columnist David Lacey as "reminiscent of a lost art in British football", showcased Samir Nasri's dribbling, as well as his individuality.
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Samir Nasri goal was compared by the English media to similar goals that occurred in the country.
48.
Three weeks later, after appearing as a substitute in the second half, Samir Nasri scored the opening goal against Birmingham City.
49.
Samir Nasri concluded his second season at Arsenal appearing in 34 matches, scoring five goals and providing five assists.
50.
Samir Nasri was named in Arsenal's starting line-up to play against Liverpool for the first match of the season on 15 August 2010.
51.
In October 2010, Samir Nasri went on a streak in which he scored goals in three-straight matches.
52.
On 13 December, for his performances during the 2010 calendar year, Samir Nasri was named the France Football French Player of the Year, edging Chelsea midfielder Florent Malouda and Lyon goalkeeper Hugo Lloris.
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Samir Nasri became the first Arsenal player to achieve the honour since Thierry Henry in 2006.
54.
Samir Nasri subsequently missed two weeks and returned to the team ahead of its Champions League knockout round tie with Spanish champions Barcelona.
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Samir Nasri lost out on both awards to Tottenham midfielder Gareth Bale and teammate Jack Wilshere, respectively, but was given consolation with an appearance on the association's Team of the Year.
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Altogether, Samir Nasri scored 27 goals in 124 total appearances for Arsenal.
57.
On 24 August 2011, it was confirmed Samir Nasri had joined Premier League club Manchester City.
58.
In December 2012, Samir Nasri was criticised for not blocking Robin van Persie's winning goal for Manchester United in the Manchester Derby.
59.
On 10 July 2014, Samir Nasri signed a new five-year contract deal with Manchester City, which kept him at the club until 2017.
60.
On 31 August 2016, Samir Nasri joined Spanish club Sevilla on a season-long loan deal.
61.
On 31 January 2018, Samir Nasri mutually terminated his contract with the club, having made eight appearances and scored two goals in the Super Lig during his five-month stay.
62.
On 22 February 2018, Samir Nasri was given a six-month ban from football by UEFA, for breaching WADA rules in December 2016 by receiving an intravenous drip of 500 millilitres of water containing nutrients.
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On 1 August 2018, Samir Nasri's ban was increased by an extra 12 months following an appeal from UEFA's ethics and disciplinary inspector.
64.
In May 2019, West Ham announced that Samir Nasri would leave the club at the end of his contract in June 2019.
65.
On 5 July 2019, Samir Nasri signed for Belgian club Anderlecht on a free transfer.
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In September 2021, Samir Nasri revealed to Le Journal du Dimanche that he had retired from professional football since his release from Anderlecht.
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Samir Nasri has earned caps with all of France's youth teams for which he was eligible.
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Samir Nasri is a member of the group, commonly known as the "Generation 1987" which produced internationals Hatem Ben Arfa, Karim Benzema and Jeremy Menez, alongside himself.
69.
At the 2004 UEFA European Under-17 Championship, Samir Nasri scored against Portugal in the competition's semi-finals.
70.
Samir Nasri earned his first call up to the under-21 team under coach Rene Girard in the team's first match following the 2006 UEFA European Under-21 Championship against Belgium.
71.
Samir Nasri started the match and was replaced at half-time by Florent Sinama Pongolle.
72.
Samir Nasri featured in qualification matches for the 2007 UEFA European Under-21 Championship and appeared as a substitute in both legs of the team's surprising defeat to Israel in the qualifying playoffs.
73.
On 15 March 2007, Samir Nasri was called up to the senior team for the first time by coach Raymond Domenech for UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying match against Lithuania and a friendly against Austria.
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Samir Nasri said he was "very happy and very proud" to be called into the national team, stating that the call-up was all the more satisfying as the game was an important European Championship qualifier.
75.
Samir Nasri appeared on the bench in the match against Lithuania, but failed to make an appearance.
76.
Samir Nasri started the match and was involved with the only goal, delivering the free-kick from which Karim Benzema scored.
77.
On 16 November 2007, Samir Nasri scored his second international goal in a friendly match against Morocco.
78.
Samir Nasri made his debut in the tournament on 9 June 2008 in the team's opening group stage match against Romania, appearing as a substitute.
79.
Samir Nasri appeared as a substitute for the injured Franck Ribery in the tenth minute.
80.
In November 2008, Samir Nasri was one of a group of young players who were accused of being insolent during the team's campaign at Euro 2008.
81.
In 2010, after failing to make the 2010 World Cup squad, Samir Nasri opened up about the situation, stating that during Gallas' final year at Arsenal, Samir Nasri was one of "four or five" Arsenal players who did not speak to the defender.
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The feud culminated on 20 November 2010 when Samir Nasri lived up to a pledge he would not shake the hand of Gallas, who was then playing for Tottenham Hotspur, during the pre-match build-up.
83.
Samir Nasri returned to the national team under the reign of new coach Laurent Blanc for the team's friendly against Norway on 11 August 2010.
84.
Samir Nasri missed the September call-ups due to injury before returning to the team in October for Euro 2012 qualifying matches against Romania and Luxembourg.
85.
Samir Nasri provided the assist on the opening goal scored by Philippe Mexes.
86.
On 9 August 2014, at age 27, Samir Nasri confirmed his decision to retire from international football.
87.
Since that season, Samir Nasri was primarily deployed in the position or as a central attacking midfielder at both club and international level.
88.
Samir Nasri often featured centrally for Arsenal in the absence of former club captain Cesc Fabregas.
89.
In 2009, in order to accommodate the arrival of Russian attacker Andrey Arshavin, it was recommended by both Wenger and then-France national team coach Raymond Domenech that Samir Nasri revert to his role as a deep-lying midfielder so the player could showcase his underrated defensive abilities.
90.
Samir Nasri was an underrated direct free kick and penalty kick taker.
91.
Samir Nasri was described in a similar fashion by club scout Gilles Grimandi, who stated that Nasri was "a fantastic athlete, he's quick, flexible and good with his feet".
92.
Samir Nasri's playing style, ability and cultural background drew comparisons to Zinedine Zidane.