Samir Nasri

Samir Nasri was born on 26th June 1987 in Marseilles, France to Ouassila Ben Saïd and Abdelhafid Nasri, both French nationals of Algerian descent. Nasri honed his skills on the streets of La Gavotte Peyret where he grew up and was soon playing for the local junior side. By the age of seven Nasri had moved to play for Pennes Mirabeau, based in a nearby town, and it was here that he caught the eye of Marseille scout Freddy Assolen. After impressing during a trial tournament in Italy, Nasri signed to join the Marseilles academy aged nine. 

Nasri developed quickly at the Marseilles academy and, having won a number of trophies with the club's youth teams, joined up with their reserves in 2003-2004, making his debut aged 16. With interest reported from across Europe, Marseilles acted quickly to tie Nasri to a professional contract and he was promoted to the first team for the 2004-2005 season, making his debut in a 2-0 defeat to Sochaux in September 2004 and scoring his first goal the following January.

Over the following three seasons Nasri became a fixture in the Marseilles midfield, scoring a further 11 goals. During this time Nasri picked up his first piece of silverware, winning the Intertoto Cup in 2005-2006 as well as reaching the final of the Coupe de France. In 2006-2007 Marseilles finished runners up in the league and Nasri was named as the UNFP Young Player of the Year. The following year, the club reached the last 16 of the Champions League and finished third in Ligue One but Nasri was ready for a new challenge and he joined Arsenal for a fee in the region of £12million ahead of the 2008-2009 season. 

Nasri's first two seasons at Arsenal failed to live up to expectations and although he was exposed to more Champions League football, he failed to regain the form that he had shown for Marseilles. Nasri's real breakthrough in English football came in 2010-2011 when he scored 15 goals in all competitions and was nominated for both the PFA Young Player of the Year and PFA Player's Player of the Year awards.  

Having finally found his feet, Nasri attracted the attention of Manchester City, whose bid of £25million was accepted by Arsenal in August 2011, much to the Arsenal fans' utter disgust. Nasri won his first league title at the end of his first season at the Etihad stadium, justifying his move north and helping City to their first top flight title win in 44 years. 

On the international stage Nasri has represented France at junior and senior levels, winning the European Championship with the France Under-17s in 2004 and appearing for France in both Euro 2008 and Euro 2012.

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