Sadiq El Fitouri (born 10 October 1994) is a Libyan 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 ...

who plays as a defender. He has also been capped by the Libya national team. He predominantly plays as a

right-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 ...

, but he can also operate 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 ...

. He began his career in the

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 ...

youth system, subsequently moving to Salford City, before joining

Manchester United 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 City of Salford, Salford to ...

in January 2015. He had a short stint at

Chesterfield Chesterfield may refer to: Places Canada * Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan * Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom * Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England ** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...

in 2017 after being released by Manchester United before joining Al Ahli Tripoli in July 2017. He signed for Politehnica Iași in January 2018 where he remained for only two months due to injuries.

Early life

El Fitouri was born in

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...

, and raised in

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wemb ...

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority, combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: City of Manchester, Manchester, City of Salford, Salford ...

, England. During his time studying at Stretford High School, he was a member of the school's trophy-winning football team, which also progressed to a national cup final. During a season in the school's under-14 team, El Fitouri's father once stopped him from playing due to declining grades, but he subsequently returned to playing football after his grades improved.

Club career

Manchester City

After leaving school, El Fitouri and two friends joined

, but all three were subsequently released. El Fitouri spent around a year with the club's youth setup. He was described as a player that could cope physically, but was not the best in the other aspects of the game. He was deemed as a late developer and did not manage to break into the club's first-team squad during his time there.

Salford City

Following his release from Manchester City's youth system, El Fitouri participated only in recreational football, before joining Salford City after a successful trial in December 2014. On 3 January 2015, he made his first-team debut for the club, in a Division One North tie against Kendal Town that ended 2–1. His debut match would turn out to be his only appearance for the Northern Premier League club. Several weeks prior to the match, the club had sacked incumbent manager,

Phil Power Philip Damian Power (born 25 July 1967) is an English football manager and former professional footballer who played in the Football League, as a forward. He was most recently manager at Salford City, and was featured in the BBC documentary, ...

. Part-owners

Phil Neville Philip John Neville (born 21 January 1977) is an English football manager and former player, who is the head coach of MLS team Inter Miami CF. He is also the co-owner of Salford City, along with several of his former Manchester United teamma ...

and

Paul Scholes Paul Scholes (born 16 November 1974) is an English football coach, pundit, former player, and co-owner of Salford City. He spent his entire professional playing career with Manchester United, for whom he scored over 150 goals in more than 700 ...

had stepped in as caretakers for the club during the period, and were impressed with El Fitouri during training and his performance in the match against Kendal Town, prompting the pair to recommend El Fitouri to their former club's under-21 manager,

Warren Joyce Warren Garton Joyce (born 20 January 1965) is an English football manager and former player, who is currently the lead coach of Nottingham Forest F.C.'s U18 Squad. As a player, he played in The Football League for Bolton Wanderers, Preston ...

Manchester United

Through the recommendations of Neville and Scholes, El Fitouri was offered a week-long trial at the

Trafford Training Centre Trafford Training Centre (usually referred to by the synecdoche of Carrington) is the training ground and academy headquarters of English football club Manchester United F.C. It is near the village of Carrington, Greater Manchester, England, and ...

. His performance during the trial prompted the club to offer him a contract. On 30 January 2015, El Fitouri signed an 18-month contract with Manchester United, entering the club's under-21 team. On 23 February 2015, El Fitouri made his debut for the Manchester United under-21 team, in a match against the

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 ...

under-21 team, which ended 1–1. He made three more appearances for the team in the 2014–15 season of the

Professional Development League The Professional Development League is a system of youth football leagues that are managed, organised and controlled by the Premier League or by the Football League. It was introduced by the Football Association via the Elite Player Performanc ...

, where the Manchester United under-21 team went on to be crowned champions for the season. He was named in the senior 25-man squad for the 2016–17 Premier League season.

Chesterfield

El Fitouri signed for

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 ...

club

on 2 February 2017, after being released by Manchester United. He made his debut two days later on 4 February 2017 in a 1–0 home defeat to

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The history of Oldham Athletic ...

. El Fitouri started the next game on 11 February 2017 against

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team plays in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the club competed in the Midland ...

, losing 3–1. After that game he was given several days off for personal reasons and failed to contact or arrive at the proact, despite Chesterfield attempting to contact the player, and was subsequently released by the club at the end of the season.

Al-Ahli Sports Club

After being released by Chesterfield, El Fitouri returned to the country of his birth and joined reigning

Libyan Premier League The Libyan Premier League ( ar, الدوري الليبي الممتاز) is the men's top professional football division of the Libyan football league system. Administered by the Competition Organizing Committee in the Libyan Football Federati ...

champions Al-Ahli Tripoli on 29 July 2017.

Politehnica Iași

El Fitouri returned to Europe after signing for Romanian club Politehnica Iași on 30 January 2018. However injuries prevented him from playing and subsequently had his contract terminated on 28 March, only two months after joining, with Iași wishing him the best of luck.

Al-Hilal Omdurman

On 14 March 2019, El Fitouri signed for Sudanese club

Al-Hilal Omdurman Al Hilal Educational Club ( ar, نادي الهلال للتربية), known as Al Hilal Omdurman or simply Al Hilal, is based in Omdurman that competes in the Sudan Premier League. Name and history The name ''Hilāl'' is the Arabic word for ...

on a two year deal.

International career

On 6 June 2015, El Fitouri made his full international debut for

after being included in the starting line-up by national coach

Javier Clemente Javier Clemente Lázaro (; born 12 March 1950) is a Spanish football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. Forced to retire from playing in his early 20s through injury, he embarked on a coaching career with his first managerial ...

for a friendly match against

Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mali ...

. A week later, on 12 June 2015, El Fitouri made his first competitive appearance for Libya in a 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualification match against

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

. He played in his preferred right-back role for the full 90 minutes, with the match ending in a 1–0 defeat.

Career statistics

Club

International

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fitouri, Sadiq 1994 births Living people English people of Libyan descent People from Benghazi Libyan footballers Association football defenders Libya international footballers English Football League players Liga I players Salford City F.C. players Manchester United F.C. players Chesterfield F.C. players Al-Ahli SC (Tripoli) players Al-Hilal Club (Omdurman) players FC Politehnica Iași (2010) players Libyan expatriate footballers Libyan emigrants to the United Kingdom Libyan expatriates in the United Kingdom Expatriate footballers in England Libyan expatriate sportspeople in Romania Expatriate footballers in Romania Libyan expatriate sportspeople in Sudan Expatriate footballers in Sudan Libyan Premier League players