Adil Nabi (born 28 February 1994) is an English 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 an

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, 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 #Cent ...

for Greek

Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...

club

Atromitos Atromitos (Greek: Ατρόμητος, "fearless") may refer to: * Atromitos F.C., a football team based in Peristeri, Athens, Greece * Atromitos Piraeus, a football team based in Piraeus, Athens, Greece * Atromitos Yeroskipou, a football team curr ...

. He was an academy product at

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pla ...

, but never made a first-team appearance. Nabi was the first player to be loaned from the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

to the

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is an Indian professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the Indian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Organised by the All India Football Federat ...

, playing in the 2015 season for the

Delhi Dynamos Odisha Football Club () is an Indian professional football club based in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, that competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. Prior to the inaugural Indian Super League season, the club was founded ...

. In January 2016, he joined

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Peterborough have a long-standing ...

, where he played 10 total games in two years before a loan to

Nuneaton Town Nuneaton Borough Football Club is an English football club that is based in Nuneaton, Warwickshire. The men's 1st team competes in the , the seventh tier of English football. In 1889, Nuneaton St. Nicholas FC was the first team in Nuneaton to ...

. Nabi then had a short spell with Scottish club

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

Club career

West Bromwich Albion

Born in

Aston Aston is an area of inner Birmingham, England. Located immediately to the north-east of Central Birmingham, Aston constitutes a ward within the metropolitan authority. It is approximately 1.5 miles from Birmingham City Centre. History Aston wa ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

, Nabi joined the academy of

as an eight-year-old. After rising through the academy ranks, he signed his first professional contract with the club in 2011. He was named in a matchday squad for the first time on 12 January 2013 in an away

match at

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

, remaining unused as West Brom lost 3–2. After the 2014–15 season, Nabi was named Albion's Young Player of the Season. For the under-21 team, he recorded 26 goals and 12 assists in 73 games.

Loan to Delhi Dynamos

On 28 August 2015 it was announced that Nabi would be loaned to the

of the

for the 2015 season. West Brom board member Adrian Wright stated that the move was for the benefit of all parties, rather than speculation that it was to increase the club's commercial interests in India. Nabi was the first player to be loaned from a Premier League club to an ISL team. His teammates included

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

winners

Roberto Carlos Roberto Carlos da Silva Rocha (born 10 April 1973), commonly known as Roberto Carlos, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who now works as a football ambassador. He started his career in Brazil as a forward but spent most of his care ...

John Arne Riise John Arne Semundseth Riise (born 24 September 1980) is a Norwegian professional football manager and former player who played as a left back and a left midfielder. He is currently the manager of Toppserien club Avaldsnes. With 110 caps, Riise is ...

and

Florent Malouda Florent Johan Malouda (born 13 June 1980) is a French football coach and former professional player. A left winger, he spent most of his career at Lyon and Chelsea, winning four consecutive Ligue 1 titles with the former and the UEFA Champions ...

, the first of whom was player-manager. On 4 October, he made his professional debut for the Dynamos in their opening match of the season against

Goa Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...

at the

Fatorda Stadium Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, locally known as Fatorda Stadium, is a multi-purpose stadium situated in Margao, Goa, India. The venue has been used to host both international football as well as International cricket matches.However after th ...

, coming on as a 73rd-minute substitute for Chicão as they fell 2–0. He played only 31 minutes of the first five matches of the season for the

capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...

-based team, but said that he was experiencing a personal growth which would not have been possible had he been loaned to a lower-league English club. On 19 November, he scored his first professional goal, opening a 3–1 win over

FC Pune City Football Club Pune City was an Indian professional football club based in Pune, Maharashtra, which last participated in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football league system, under licence from AIFF. The club was founded in ...

at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. He added a second on 3 December, as the team who had already qualified for the play-offs came from behind to achieve a 3–3 home draw against

Kerala Blasters Kerala Blasters Football Club (), commonly referred to as The Blasters, is an Indian professional football club based in Kochi, Kerala, that competes in the Indian Super League, the top tier of football in India. The club was established i ...

. In the last game of the regular season three days later, he scored again in a 2–3 loss to Goa, and finished the season with 3 goals from 11 games as they were eliminated by the same team in the semi-finals; he was sent off for dissent on 15 December in a 3–0 away loss in the second leg.

Peterborough United

On 21 January 2016, Nabi joined

for an undisclosed fee, signing a contract lasting until 2019. Two days later, as a 57th-minute substitute for Erhun Oztumer, he made his debut in English football, in the Posh's 2–1 loss to Gillingham in

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 ...

. On 13 February, he made his first start for the team, in their 0–4 loss to

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. Th ...

at London Road. Speaking in January 2017, Director of Football

Barry Fry Barry Francis Fry (born 7 April 1945) is an English former football player and manager. A winger, Fry was an apprentice at Manchester United in his youth, and had brief spells with Bolton Wanderers, Luton Town and Leyton Orient, before he reti ...

said that: "Nabi was all set to go to

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

, but they sacked their manager (

Bruno Ribeiro Bruno Miguel Fernandes Ribeiro (born 22 October 1975) is a Portuguese football manager and former player who is now the head coach at Campeonato de Portugal club Moura. A midfielder with a powerful left-foot strike, he began his playing ca ...

) and the caretaker-boss ( Michael Brown) there is not so keen". On 3 February 2018, having gone 14 months without an appearance – with that being a

dead rubber Dead rubber is a term used in sporting parlance to describe a match in a series where the series result has already been decided by earlier matches. The dead rubber match therefore has no effect on the winner and loser of the series, other than the ...

EFL Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Le ...

game against

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands County, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east ...

– Nabi was loaned to

National League North The National League North, formerly Conference North, is a division of the National League in England, immediately below the National League division. Along with the National League South, it is at the second level of the National League Sy ...

strugglers

for the rest of the season. He played five games for them as a substitute, and did not score.

Dundee

Following his release from Peterborough, Nabi trained in the summer of 2018 at

, and on 2 August he signed a six-month contract. He made his debut for the

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish ...

club nine days later, as a half-time substitute for

Lewis Spence James Lewis Thomas Chalmers Spence (25 November 1874 – 3 March 1955) was a Scottish journalist, poet, author, folklorist and occult scholar. Spence was a Fellow of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, and vice- ...

at home to

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

, and forced a save in the 1–0 loss. He made ten appearances for the Dee, scoring once to open a 2–1 home loss to

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...

on 6 October. Nabi was released by Dundee in December 2018, at the end of his contract.

OFI

In January 2019, Nabi announced on Twitter that he had signed for OFI. He described the move as "crazy". In his debut against

Panetolikos Panetolikos Football Club ( el, ΠΑΕ Παναιτωλικός), or with its full name Panetolikós Yimnastikós Filekpedeftikós Síllogos ( el, Παναιτωλικός Γυμναστικός Φιλεκπαιδευτικός Σύλλογος'' ...

on 20 January, he scored two free kicks in a 3–0 home win. He was named

Superleague Greece The Super League Greece 1 ( el, Ελληνική Σούπερ Λιγκ 1), or Super League 1, is the highest professional association football league in Greece. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and replaced ''Alpha Ethniki'' at the top of ...

's player of the week, and satellite channel Nova Sport named his goal as the best in Europe that week. Nabi scored a free kick very late into the second leg of the relegation play-offs against Cretan rivals

Platanias Platanias (Greek: Πλατανιάς) is a village and municipality on the Greek island of Crete. It is located about west from the city of Chania and east of Kissamos, on Chania Bay. The seat of the municipality is the village Gerani. Platania ...

that ensured a win and a place in the 2019–20 Superleague.

Atromitos

On 26 January 2022, Nabi announced that he had signed for

on a deal until 2024.

International career

Adil is yet to represent any international team but he remains eligible to play for

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. His younger brothers, Rahis and

Samir Samir (variantly spelled Sameer) is a male name found commonly in the Middle East, Central Asia and Europe. In Arabic, Samir () means holy, jovial, loyal or charming. In Albanian, it translates literally as “so good” but the connotation is clo ...

, have already played for the

Pakistan national football team The Pakistan national football team represents Pakistan association football in FIFA-authorized events and is controlled by the Pakistan Football Federation, the governing body for football in Pakistan. Pakistan became a member of FIFA in 19 ...

Style of play

West Bromwich Albion academy manager Mark Harrison stated in November 2015 that Nabi was equally as gifted in technical and finishing abilities as the team's first-choice striker

Saido Berahino Saido Berahino (born 4 August 1993) is a Burundian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Cypriot First Division club AEL Limassol and captains the Burundi national team. Having fled his native Burundi as a child, he received pol ...

, who had partnered Nabi at youth level.

Personal life

Nabi is of Pakistani descent. His younger brothers

and Rahis are also professional footballers, having progressed through West Brom's academy. He is a practising

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

Career statistics

References

External links

*
Delhi Dynamos Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nabi, Adil 1994 births Living people English people of Pakistani descent Footballers from Birmingham, West Midlands English footballers West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Odisha FC players Peterborough United F.C. players Nuneaton Borough F.C. players Dundee F.C. players OFI Crete F.C. players Atromitos F.C. players Association football forwards Indian Super League players English Football League players Scottish Professional Football League players Super League Greece players Expatriate footballers in India English expatriate sportspeople in India English expatriate footballers British sportspeople of Pakistani descent British Asian footballers English expatriates in Greece English expatriate sportspeople in Greece Expatriate footballers in Greece English Muslims