Mukhtar Abdullahi Ali ( ar, مختار علي; born 30 October 1997) is a 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 ...

, of Somali origin, 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 Al-Tai on loan from

Al-Nassr Al Nassr Football Club ( ar, نادي النصر السعودي; '' Naṣr'' meaning ''Victory'') is a Saudi Arabian football club based in Riyadh. Formed in 1955, the club plays its home games at the Mrsool Park. Their home colours are yello ...

and the

Saudi Arabia national football team The Saudi Arabia national football team ( ar, المنتخب العربي السعودي لكرة القدم) represent Saudi Arabia in men's international football. They are known as ''Al-Suqour Al-Khodhur'' (The Green Falcons) in reference to ...

. He was born in

Jeddah Jeddah ( ), also spelled Jedda, Jiddah or Jidda ( ; ar, , Jidda, ), is a city in the Hejaz region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and the country's commercial center. Established in the 6th century BC as a fishing village, Jeddah's pro ...

and moved to London as an infant.

Club career

Chelsea

In 2008, Ali joined

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

at under-11 level from

Leyton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club is a professional football club based in Leyton, East London, England, who compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are the second oldest football club in London to play at a professio ...

and progressed through the club's academy system. He was part of the Chelsea youth side which recorded back to back triumphs in the

FA Youth Cup The Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under-18 sides. Only those players between the age of 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season are eligible to take part. It ...

in 2015 and 2016. With 42 appearances in all competitions he was the second-leading appearance maker in the academy and was also nominated for International Somali Sportsman of the Year.

Vitesse

On 29 January 2017, Ali joined Vitesse on loan for the remainder of the 2016–17 campaign. On 19 February 2017, Ali made his Vitesse debut in their 1–0 home defeat against

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Greek ...

, replacing Marvelous Nakamba in the 84th minute. On 4 February 2017, he played his first match for Jong Vitesse against SV Spakenburg. Ali went onto appear in five more league games during his loan spell. On 17 July 2017, Vitesse permanently signed Ali on a three-year deal.

Al-Nassr

On 31 August 2019,

signed Mukhtar Ali on a one-year deal from Vitesse. On 29 January 2022, he renewed his contract with Al-Nassr until 2025 and was loaned out to Al-Tai. On 29 August 2022, Mukhtar Ali rejoined Al-Tai on a one-year loan.

International career

Ali represented England at both under-16 and under-17 level, however, pledged his allegiance towards the Saudi Arabia national team, and made his senior debut on 7 October 2017 against

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

. This was possibly based on the player's assertion that he was instead born in

, Saudi Arabia.

Career statistics

Honours

Club

Chelsea Reserves *

: 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16 *

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 ...

: 2015–16 Vitesse *

KNVB Cup The KNVB Beker (; en, KNVB Cup), branded as the TOTO KNVB Beker for sponsorship reasons, is a competition in the Netherlands organized by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) since 1898. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Ou ...

: 2016–17 ;Al Nassr FC *

Saudi Super Cup The Saudi Super Cup ( ar, كأس السوبر السعودي) is an annual super cup football match organised by the Saudi Arabian Football Federation. Founded in 2013 as a two-team competition, the current version has been contested since 2022� ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ali, Mukhtar 1997 births Living people Sportspeople from Jeddah Saudi Arabian footballers Saudi Arabia men's international footballers English footballers English people of Somali descent England men's youth international footballers Somalian footballers Naturalised citizens of Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabian people of Somali descent Saudi Arabian emigrants to the United Kingdom Men's association football midfielders Chelsea F.C. players SBV Vitesse players Leyton Orient F.C. players Al Nassr FC players Al-Tai FC players Saudi Professional League players Eredivisie players Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands Saudi Arabian expatriate sportspeople in England Saudi Arabian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Footballers from Greater London Olympic footballers for Saudi Arabia Footballers at the 2020 Summer Olympics