Omar Elabdellaoui
Omar Elabdellaoui is a Norwegian professional footballer who plays for Greek club Olympiacos and the Norway national team. He plays primarily as a right back but can also play as a right midfielder.
Elabdellaoui began his career with Skeid before signing with Manchester City in 2008, although never appeared for the club; he made his professional debut while on loan at Strømsgodset. He has also spent a loan spell in the Netherlands with Feyenoord. After spending a half season on loan with Eintracht Braunschweig in 2013, Elabdellaoui joined the German side permanently in May 2013. He signed for current club Olympiacos in June 2014.
Elabdellaoui represented Norway at youth international level, and was a part of the Norwegian team in the 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship. He made his debut for the senior national team in August 2013.
Club career
Manchester City
After playing for the Norwegian club Skeid, Elabdellaoui joined the English club Manchester City when he was 16 years old. Scott Sellars, coach of the City's U18 team, stated in an interview with Norwegian TV 2 in January 2010 that Elabdellaoui had "a big future". Elabdellaoui made an impressive effort at the academy and was awarded a first-team number for the 2010–11 season, but sat on the bench during City's Europa League match against Juventus on 16 December 2010.Strømsgodset
On 31 March 2011, the last day of the Norwegian transfer window, Elabdellaoui was loaned out to Strømsgodset in Norway until City's pre-season started in July. In Strømsgodset he was reunited with his teammates from City, Mohammed Abu and Razak Nuhu. He played eight league matches before fracturing his foot in the league match against Fredrikstad on 28 May 2011, and returned to Manchester for surgery. On 1 September, he returned to Strømsgodset where he played until the end of the 2011-season, in a total of 12 matches, scoring one goal and giving one assist.Strømsgodset wanted Elabdellaoui for another loan-spell for the 2012 season, but Elabdellaoui was reluctant to play at Godset's home ground Marienlyst Stadion because he was concerned that its artificial turf would re-injure him.
Feyenoord
In June 2012, Elabdellaoui signed a two-year contract with City, and was loaned to the Dutch club Feyenoord for the 2012–13 season. His teammate at City, John Guidetti, who was loaned to the same club in the 2011–12 season, both recommended Elabdellaoui to Feyenoord and advised Eladbellaoui to accept Feyenoord's offer if Manchester City let him go. Guidetti said that Elabdellaoui was a perfect fit for Feyenoord because he was physically strong, technically well-equipped and a fast player. According to Feyenoord's technical director Martin van Geel, Elabdellaoui was to mostly play as a left or right winger, but would also play as an attacking midfielder behind the forwards. He also said that Feyenoord wanted Eladbellaoui on their team for a couple of years, but were unable to sign him previously.Elabdellaoui played five matches for Feyenoord, four as a substitute, until he in January 2013 requested to be released from the club. He wanted to play regularly and realized that his chances at Feyenoord would be limited, where he were competing against the right back and the right wing at the Netherlands national team.
Eintracht Braunschweig
In January 2013, Elabdellaoui was loaned to German club Eintracht Braunschweig for the second half of the 2012–13 2. Bundesliga season. Elabdellaoui became a regular from the start and won promotion to the Bundesliga with his team. On 10 May 2013, Eintracht Braunschweig announced that the loan deal had been made permanent. Following Eintracht Braunschweig's promotion, Elabdellaoui made his debut in the Bundesliga in the match against Werder Bremen on 10 August 2013. He started the first three matches of the season as a right back, but sat on the bench in the next match against Hamburg.Olympiacos
On 17 June 2014 he was offered a contract by Greek club Olympiacos. He signed for the club the next day, stating that he was very excited to be a part of the club.A wonderful 2018–19 campaign has dramatically increased interest in the Norwegian defender. Playing in the position of right-back, the 27-year-old international was an irreplaceable figure for Olympiacos, bombing up and down the flank to great effect as he made vital contributions to the attack. Multiple clubs sought Elabdellaoui’s services, and in order to push Olympiacos into selling, they would have had to offer a minimum of 5 million. Elabdellaoui’s Olympiacos contract is due to expire in June of 2021 and is the indisputed leader in club's defence as well as the captain of the club in the 2019–20 season.
Loan to Hull City
On 20 January 2017, Elabdellaoui signed a loan deal with Hull City, linking him with his international teammates Markus Henriksen & Adama Diomande. Hull have the option to make the deal permanent. He made his debut on 22 January 2017 in the 2–0 away loss to Chelsea.International career
Elabdellaoui made his debut for Norway when he played for the under-15 team in the 0–0 draw Poland U15 on 8 August 2006, in a match where Stefan Johansen also made his debut at youth international level. Elabdellaoui played one more match for the under-15 team before he scored one goal in ten matches for the under-16 team. He later scored one goal in eight matches for the under-17 team, before he made six appearances for the under-18 team and eleven for the under-19 team, where he scored one goal.Elabdellaoui made his debut for the Norway national under-21 football team against Greece U-21 on 17 October 2010. He featured heavily in the 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship qualification as a right-back.
He made his debut for the Norway under-23 team in a game against Wales in June 2012, with Elabdellaoui as the first goalscorer in the 4–0 victory.
Elabdellaoui was first called up for the Norwegian national team for the friendly match against Sweden in August 2013, and made his debut for the senior team when he started the match and played 72 minutes as a right back.