Omar Rekik ( ar, عمر رقيق ; born 20 December 2001) is a professional footballer who plays as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for

EFL Championship The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the E ...

club

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...

, on loan from

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

. Born in the Netherlands, he represents the Tunisia national team. His brother, Karim, is also a professional footballer.

Early life

Born in

Helmond Helmond (; called ''Héllemond'' in the local dialect) is a city and municipality in the Metropoolregio Eindhoven of the province of North Brabant in the Southern Netherlands. Helmond is home to several textile and metal companies. The Vlisco fa ...

, Netherlands, from a Tunisian father and a Dutch mother, Rekik was part of several big European clubs during his youth career, following his brother Karim from Feyenoord, to

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

, then PSV and Marseille, before joining Hertha Berlin in 2017. However their career eventually split during the 2020–21 season, as Omar was transferred from the Bundesliga side to

in January 2021. Karim, who had already been playing professional football for the last ten years, had joined the Spanish side of Sevilla a few months earlier.

Club career

On 31 January 2023, Omar joined

in the

on loan until the end of the season.

International career

While Karim was already a 4 time capped Dutch international, Omar Rekik was first selected in the Tunisia under-21 selection in October 2018, while aged only 16, before joining the Netherlands under-18 a month later. But Omar Rekik eventually decided to join the Tunisian national team in May 2021, as he was selected by

Mondher Kebaier Mondher Kebaier ( ar, منذر الكبير; born 2 April 1970) is a Tunisian former football player and the current coach of Raja Club Athletic. Career Formerly a player at hometown club CA Bizertin, Kebaier became manager of the club in 2000 ...

along with other young players such as Hannibal Mejbri. He made his international senior debut for Tunisia on 15 June 2021, starting as a midfielder in the 1-0 friendly win against Mali.

Career statistics

References

External links

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Omar Rekik
KNVB profile {{DEFAULTSORT:Rekik, Omar 2001 births Living people Sportspeople from Helmond Footballers from North Brabant Citizens of Tunisia through descent Tunisian footballers Tunisia international footballers Tunisia youth international footballers Dutch footballers Netherlands youth international footballers Tunisian people of Dutch descent Dutch people of Tunisian descent Association football central defenders Manchester City F.C. players Feyenoord players Olympique de Marseille players Hertha BSC players Arsenal F.C. players Sparta Rotterdam players Tunisian expatriate footballers Tunisian expatriate sportspeople in England Tunisian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Tunisian expatriate sportspeople in France Dutch expatriate footballers Dutch expatriate sportspeople in England Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Germany Dutch expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Germany Expatriate footballers in France 2021 Africa Cup of Nations players Tweede Divisie players Eredivisie players English Football League players Wigan Athletic F.C. players Regionalliga players