Ayman Kari (born 19 November 2004) is a French professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for club

Lorient Lorient (; ) is a town (''Communes of France, commune'') and Port, seaport in the Morbihan Departments of France, department of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in western France. History Prehistory and classical antiquity Beginn ...

, on loan from

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club (), commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain, Paris, Paris SG or simply PSG is a professional football club based in Paris, France. They compete in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. As Fr ...

Early life

Born in

Ivry-sur-Seine Ivry-sur-Seine () is a commune in the Val-de-Marne department in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. Paris's main Asian district, the Quartier Asiatique in the 13th arrondissement, borders the co ...

Île-de-France , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 = +01:00 , timezone1_DST = CEST , utc_offset1_DST = +02:00 , blank_name_sec1 = Gross regional product , blank_info_sec1 = Ranked 1st , bla ...

, Kari first played youth club football in

Villejuif Villejuif () is a commune in the southern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. Name The earliest reference to Villejuif appears in a bill signed by the Pope Callixtus II on 27 November 1119. It refers to Villa Ju ...

. He then joined the

Paris Saint-Germain Academy The Paris Saint-Germain Academy, commonly known as the PSG Academy, is the youth system of both Paris Saint-Germain F.C., Paris Saint-Germain (men's team) and Paris Saint-Germain Féminine (women's team). Established in 1970, the academy is ...

in 2017, after spending two years in the pre-academy with the club.

Club career

Having started playing with the under-19 side of

(PSG) in the summer of 2021, impressing both in the

Championnat National U19 The Championnat National U19 is the highest tier of under-19 football in France. Organized by the French Football Federation, it is contested by 56 clubs that are split into 4 groups. History In 2009, the ''Championnat National 18 ans'' of F ...

and the

UEFA Youth League The UEFA Youth League is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) since 2013. In its current format, it is contested by the youth teams of the clubs competing in the UEFA Champions League ...

, Kari was voted Titi d'Or in 2021, making him the best PSG youth player of that year, above the likes of

Xavi Simons Xavier Quentin Shay Simons (born 21 April 2003) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a midfielder or an attacking midfielder for Eredivisie club PSV and the Netherlands national team. Early life Born in Amsterdam, Simons is the so ...

, Djeidi Gassama or

Ismaël Gharbi Ismaël Gharbi Álvarez (born 10 April 2004) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Swiss Super League club Stade Lausanne Ouchy, on loan from Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain. Born in France, he has represented both France ...

. Kari extended his contract with PSG in July 2022, tying him to the club until 2024, after he was announced as a likely

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), also known as FC Bayern (), Bayern Munich, or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional men's football team, which pla ...

signing. On 5 January 2023, Kari signed his first professional contract with PSG, a deal until 30 June 2025. On 31 January, he was loaned out 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 ...

club

until the end of the season with an option for a one-year extension. Although the deal also included an option-to-buy for Lorient, according to various media reports, PSG also secured a buy-back clause in the case of Kari being sold. On 30 April 2023, Kari made his professional debut as a substitute in a 3–1 away win over PSG at the

Parc des Princes Parc des Princes () is an all-seater stadium, all-seater Association football, football stadium in Paris, France, in the south-west of the French capital, inside the 16th arrondissement of Paris, 16th arrondissement, near the Stade Jean-Bouin ...

. He returned on loan to Lorient for the 2023–24 season.

International career

Kari is a youth international for France, having started playing with the under-18s in the autumn of 2021. He is also eligible to represent Comoros and Madagascar at international level.

Style of play

A polyvalent

, Kari mainly played as a sentinelle, a

deep-lying playmaker A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

during his time under Zoumana Camara with PSG youth teams. He is described as a hard-working player, good at pressing and getting the ball back, with great pace, then able to make good use of the ball, with a controlled and decisive game.

Career statistics

Honours

Individual * Titi d'Or: 2021

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kari, Ayman 2004 births Living people French men's footballers France men's youth international footballers French sportspeople of Comorian descent French sportspeople of Malagasy descent Black French sportspeople Men's association football midfielders Sportspeople from Ivry-sur-Seine Footballers from Val-de-Marne Paris Saint-Germain F.C. players FC Lorient players Ligue 1 players Championnat National 2 players