Ahmed Abdelkader ( ar, أحمد عبدالقادر; born 19 February 1999) is a French professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Algerian side US Biskra.

Club career

Born in Brest, Abdelkader began his footballing career at the age of seven with local side Pilier-Rouge, where he played as a

striker Striker or The Strikers may refer to: People *A participant in a strike action *A participant in a hunger strike *Blacksmith's striker, a type of blacksmith's assistant *Striker's Independent Society, the oldest mystic krewe in America People wi ...

. He spent a year with professional side

Stade Brestois Stade Brestois 29 or simply Brest, is a French football club based in Brest. It was founded in 1950 following the merger of five local patronages, including Armoricaine de Brest, founded in 1903. In its early years, the club made a rapid rise ...

, before moving to AS Brestoise, where he was converted to play as a goalkeeper due to his height. Having initially began training with them at the age of fourteen, Abdelkader signed with Guingamp in 2015. After three years with Guingamp, and one appearance for the club's reserve team in the

Championnat National 3 The Championnat National 3, commonly referred to as simply National 3 and formerly known as Championnat de France Amateur 2, is a football league competition. The league serves as the fifth division of the French football league system behind ...

, Abdelkader was released by the club. Following his release, he went on trial with English side Leicester City, but after this was unsuccessful, he moved to Cyprus, signing a three-year deal with Polis Chrysochous. In his first season, he totalled twenty-nine appearances in all competitions. Despite signing a three-year deal with Polis Chrysochous, he returned to England after one season, joining

EFL League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

side

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

, being assigned to the club's under-23 side. On joining, he stated that signing for Sunderland was "a simple decision to make", and that he had "a great chance to progress". At the expiration of his one year deal with Sunderland, Abdelkader moved to Algeria, signing with Belouizdad. However after just two seasons with the club, in which he featured in eleven games, he was linked with a loan move to JS Kabylie in August 2022. After another full season with Belouizdad, Abdelkader moved to fellow

Ligue 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. A ...

side US Biskra in September 2023. However, after only two weeks of training with his new team, he was left out of the squad for Biskra's match against

Paradou AC Paradou Athletic Club ( ar, نادي أتليتيك بارادو), known as Paradou AC or simply PAC for short, is an Algerian football club based in Algiers. The club was founded in 1994 by members of the Hydra AC junior team, the club colours ...

due to issues with his registration, and returned to London, England. Abdelkader's frustration with the club grew, and in late 2023 he was absent from training for four weeks, reportedly due to issues with his contract. As Biskra did not want to sign a new goalkeeper on such short notice, Abdelkader was convinced to return to training by club officials, and he did so in early January 2024.

Career statistics

Club

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Abdelkader, Ahmed 1999 births Living people Footballers from Brest, France French sportspeople of Algerian descent French men's footballers Algerian men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Championnat National 3 players Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1 players Stade Brestois 29 players En Avant Guingamp players Sunderland A.F.C. players French expatriate men's footballers Algerian expatriate men's footballers French expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Algerian expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus French expatriate sportspeople in England Algerian expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in England