Sofyan Amrabat Becomes Fenerbahçe’s 192nd Foreign Player in Club History!
Moroccan footballer Sofyan Amrabat, who was signed by Fenerbahçe from Fiorentina, became the 192nd foreign player in the club's 117-year history.
Brazilian players have worn the Fenerbahçe jersey the most in the club’s history. To date, 28 Brazilian players have played for the yellow and navy blue team, followed by 17 Yugoslavian players. Before this season, Fenerbahçe had transferred 189 foreign players in its history; with the signings of Youssef En-Nesyri, Allan Saint-Maximin, and Sofyan Amrabat, this number increased to 192.
FENERBAHÇE’S 4TH MOROCCAN PLAYER
With the agreement reached with Amrabat, Fenerbahçe added the 4th Moroccan player to its history.
Before the 2016-2017 season, Fenerbahçe made its first Moroccan addition by transferring Aatif Chahechouhe from Sivasspor. In the following season, Nabil Dirar was included in the squad.
This season, Fenerbahçe signed two players from the same country.
The yellow and navy blues signed Youssef En-Nesyri, a striker for the Moroccan national team, from Sevilla and added another national team player, Sofyan Amrabat, as their fourth Moroccan player in history.
Fenerbahçe’s new signing Amrabat is also the brother of Nordin Amrabat, who played for Kayserispor and Galatasaray in Turkey and currently plays for AEK in Greece.
PLAYED 120 MINUTES AND ARRIVED IN TURKEY THE NEXT DAY
Sofyan Amrabat played 120 minutes in Fiorentina’s UEFA Conference League playoff rematch against Hungary’s Puskas Akademia away from home.
The match, which ended 1-1 in regular time, went into extra time and then to penalties, where the Italian team succeeded in reaching the league stage after penalty shootouts.
After playing the match and helping Fiorentina advance to the league stage of the UEFA Conference League, the Moroccan player arrived in Istanbul the following day and reached an agreement with Fenerbahçe.
FENERBAHÇE IS AMRABAT’S 7TH CLUB
Sofyan Amrabat began his football career in the Netherlands, playing in various age groups of Utrecht’s youth academy before moving up to the first team.
After two years with the first team, Amrabat transferred to Feyenoord and later joined Belgian side Club Brugge.
After playing one season with Club Brugge, he went on loan to Italian Serie A club Hellas Verona, where he played for a year before transferring to Fiorentina.
The 28-year-old footballer, who gained recognition for his performance in the 2022 World Cup, spent the last year on loan with English Premier League side Manchester United.
Fenerbahçe is the seventh club for the Moroccan footballer.
FOREIGN PLAYERS WHO HAVE WORN THE FENERBAHÇE JERSEY
Including Sofyan Amrabat, here is the list of 192 foreign players that Fenerbahçe has included in their squad over the past 117 years, categorized by their countries:
Brazil (28): Gerson Candido, Sergio Nerves, Reinaldo Simao, Cerqueria Washington, Fabio Luciano, Marco Aurelio, Marcio Nobre, Fabiano Rodriguez, Alex de Souza, Eduardo Luis Abonizi de Souza “Edu”, Deivid de Souza, Roberto Carlos, Bilica, Cristian Baroni, Andre Santos, Diego Ribas, Fabiano Ribeiro, Fernandao, Josef de Souza, Giuliano, Jailson Marques Siqueira, Luiz Gustavo, Luan Peres, Lincoln Henrique, Willian Arao, Gustavo Henrique, Rodrigo Becao, Fred Rodrigues.
Yugoslavia (17): Asim Ferhadovic, Vasille Radovic, Lazar Lemic, Stevano Ostojovic, Radomir Antic, Radmilo Ivančević, Ibrahim Begovic, Suat Karalic, Fahruddin Zeynelovic, Srebrenko Repcic, Dusan Pesic, Zvan Lukovcan, Fadil Vokri, Miroslav Tanjga, Nikola Lazetic, Zoran Mirkovic, Miroslav Stevic.
Germany (8): Wilhelm Kohlhammer, Körner, Tony Schumacher, Andreas Wagenhaus, Robert Enke, Max Kruse, Mergim Berisha, Max Meyer.
Netherlands (7): Pierre van Hooijdonk, Dirk Kuyt, Robin Van Persie, Van der Wiel, Jeremain Lens, Vincent Janssen, Jayden Oosterwolde.
Senegal (7): Mamadou Niang, Issiar Dia, Moussa Sow, Abdoulaye Ba, Mame Thiam, Papiss Cisse, Lamine Diack.
Portugal (7): Manuel Dimas, Raul Meireles, Bruno Alves, Luis Carlos Almeida da Cunha (Nani), Luis Neto, Miguel Crespo, Bruma.
Denmark (6): Henrik Nielsen, Brian Steen Nielsen, Frank Pingel, Jes Högh, Simon Kjaer, Zanka.
Greece (6): Jean Boris, Constantin Boris, Tripo, Apostol Nikoliadis, Koça Negroponti, Dimitrios Pelkas.
Nigeria (6): Uche Okechukwu, Augustine Okocha, Joseph Yobo, Emmanuel Emenike, Victor Moses, Bright Osayi-Samuel.
Romania (5): Ion Nunweiler, Ilie Datcu, Mircea Sasu, Sabin Ilie, Viorel Moldovan.
Ghana (5): Samuel Johnson, Yaw Preko, Stephen Appiah, Andre Ayew, Alexander Djiku.
Switzerland (4): Gustav Haenni, Reto Ziegler, Michael Frey, Kemal Ademi.
Serbia (4): Mateja Kezman, Milos Krasic, Lazar Markovic, Dusan Tadic.
France (4): Nicolas Anelka, Mathieu Valbuena, Adil Rami, Allan Saint-Maximin.
Morocco (4): Aatif Chahechouhe, Nabil Dirar, Youssef En-Nesyri, Sofyan Amrabat.
Egypt (4): Hüseyin, Kamil, Faid, Fayed.
Italy (4): Ranço, Baldini, Joao Pedro, Leonardo Bonucci.
Argentina (3): Ariel Ortega, Jose Sosa, Diego Perotti.
Russia (3): Ivan Visnevsky, Vladimir Beschastnykh, Roman Neustaedter.
Bulgaria (3): Stonimir Stoilov, Emil Kostadinov, Ivailo Petkov.
Cameroon (3): Henri Bienvenu, Pierre Webo, Carlos Kameni.
Spain (3): Daniel Guiza, Josico, Roberto Soldado.
Uruguay (3): Diego Lugano, Mauricio Lamos, Diego Rossi.
Poland (3): Czeslaw Jakolcewicz, Piotr Soczynski, Sebastian Szymanski.
England (3): Horace Armitage, Dalian Robert Atkinson, Ryan Kent.
Croatia (3): Milan Rapaić, Stjepan Tomas, Dominik Livakovic.
Bosnia and Herzegovina (3): Demir Hotic, Edin Dzeko, Rade Krunic.
Ukraine (2): Sergei Rebrov, Oleksandr Karavaiev.
Albania (2): Bahri Kaya, Süleyman Vafi.
Algeria (2): Islam Slimani, Yassine Benzia.
Sweden (2): Kenneth Andersson, Samuel Holmen.
Slovakia (2): Miroslav Stoch, Martin Skrtel.
Chile (2): Claudio Maldonado, Mauricio Isla.
Iran (2): Hossein Sadaghiani, Allahyar Sayyadmanesh.
Slovenia (2): Dzoni Novak, Miha Zajc.
Guinea (2): Süleyman Oulare, Simon Falette.
Czech Republic (2): Michal Kadlec, Filip Novak.
Hungary (2): Zobel, Attila Szalai.
North Macedonia (2): Eljif Elmas, Ezgjan Alioski.
South Africa (1): John Moshoeu.
Israel (1): Haim Revivo.
Mexico (1): Diego Reyes.
Kosovo (1): Vedat Muriqi.
Cape Verde (1): Garry Rodrigues.
Ecuador (1): Enner Valencia.
Congo (1): Marcel Tisserand.
Tanzania (1): Mbwana Samatta.
South Korea (1): Min-jae Kim.
Sierra Leone (1): Steven Caulker.
Belgium (1): Michy Batshuayi.
Norway (1): Joshua King.
Note: Aurelio, who transferred to Fenerbahçe, became a Turkish citizen later. Footballers who were transferred after becoming Turkish citizens were not counted. Bosnian footballers Baliç and Boliç are not on the list for this reason.
