Sadiq El Fitouri
Sadiq El Fitouri (born 10 October 1994) is a Libyan professional footballer who plays as a defender who recently played for Maine Road. He has also been capped by the Libya national team.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Sadiq El Fitouri | ||
| Date of birth | 10 October 1994 | ||
| Place of birth | Benghazi, Libya | ||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Defender | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2010–2013 | Manchester City | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2014–2015 | Salford City | 1 | (0) |
| 2015–2017 | Manchester United | 1 | (0) |
| 2017 | Chesterfield | 2 | (0) |
| 2017 | Al Ahli Tripoli | 0 | (0) |
| 2018 | Politehnica Iași | 0 | (0) |
| 2019 | Al-Hilal Omdurman | 0 | (0) |
| 2022 | Maine Road | 1 | (0) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2015–2016 | Libya | 6 | (0) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 16 April 2018 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 5 February 2017 | |||
He predominantly plays as a right-back, but he can also operate as a centre-back. He began his career in the Manchester City youth system, subsequently moving to Salford City, before joining Manchester United in January 2015. He had a short stint at Chesterfield 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 edit
El Fitouri was born in Libya, and raised in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, 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.[1]
Club career edit
Manchester City edit
After leaving school, El Fitouri and two friends joined Manchester City, but all three were subsequently released.[1] 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.[citation needed]
Salford City edit
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.[2] 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. Part-owners Phil Neville and Paul Scholes 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.[1]
Manchester United edit
Through the recommendations of Neville and Scholes, El Fitouri was offered a week-long trial at the Trafford Training Centre. 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.[3]
On 23 February 2015, El Fitouri made his debut for the Manchester United under-21 team, in a match against the Sunderland under-21 team, which ended 1–1.[4] He made three more appearances for the team in the 2014–15 season of the Professional Development League, where the Manchester United under-21 team went on to be crowned champions for the season.[5] He was named in the senior 25-man squad for the 2016–17 Premier League season.[6]
Chesterfield edit
El Fitouri signed for League One club Chesterfield on 2 February 2017, after being released by Manchester United.[7] He made his debut two days later on 4 February 2017 in a 1–0 home defeat to Oldham Athletic.[8] El Fitouri started the next game on 11 February 2017 against Northampton Town, losing 3–1.[9] After that game he was given several days off for personal reasons but failed to return to the club, despite Chesterfield attempting to contact the player. He was subsequently released by the club at the end of the season.[10]
Al-Ahli Sports Club edit
After being released by Chesterfield, El Fitouri returned to the country of his birth and joined reigning Libyan Premier League champions Al-Ahli Tripoli on 29 July 2017.[11]
Politehnica Iași edit
El Fitouri returned to Europe after signing for Romanian club Politehnica Iași on 30 January 2018.[12][13] 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.[14]
Al-Hilal Omdurman edit
On 14 March 2019, El Fitouri signed for Sudanese club Al-Hilal Omdurman on a two year deal.[15][16]
Maine Road FC edit
On 6 February 2022, El Fitouri signed for North West Counties Football League Division One South club Maine Road.[17]
International career edit
On 6 June 2015, El Fitouri made his full international debut for Libya after being included in the starting line-up by national coach Javier Clemente for a friendly match against Mali.[18] 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. He played in his preferred right-back role for the full 90 minutes, with the match ending in a 1–0 defeat.[19]
Career statistics edit
Club edit
| Club | Season | League | Cup | League Cup | Europe | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Salford City | 2014–15 | Division One North | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Manchester United | 2016–17 | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Chesterfield | 2016–17 | League One | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| Al-Ahli Tripoli | 2017–18 | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Politehnica Iași | 2017–18 | Liga I | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Al-Hilal Omdurman | 2018–19 | Sudan Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Career total | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | ||
International edit
- As of match played 21 March 2020[22]
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Libya | 2015 | 5 | 0 |
| 2016 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 6 | 0 | |
References edit
- ^ a b c Mitten, Andy (10 February 2015). "Man Utd exclusive: How Sadiq El Fitouri pulled off his miracle move to Old Trafford". Manchester Evening News. MEN Media. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
- ^ Giblin, Andy. . Pitchero. Archived from the original on 25 September 2015. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
- ^ "Sadiq El Fitouri signs for Manchester United". ManUtd.com. Manchester United. 30 January 2015. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
- ^ Lynch, David (23 February 2015). "Sunderland 1 Manchester United 1: Premier League Under-21 report". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
- ^ "Sadiq El Fitouri player profile". ManUtd.com. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
- ^ "Squads for 2016/17 Premier League confirmed". Premier League. 1 September 2016. Retrieved 5 February 2017.
- ^ "Sadiq el Fitouri: Former Manchester United defender joins Chesterfield". BBC Sport. 2 February 2017. Retrieved 2 February 2017.
- ^ "Chesterfield 0–1 Oldham Athletic". BBC Sport. 4 February 2017. Retrieved 14 August 2017.
- ^ "Northampton Town 3–1 Chesterfield". BBC Sport. 11 February 2017. Retrieved 14 August 2017.
- ^ O'Rourke, James (2 May 2017). "Retained List: Relegated Chesterfield allow 12 to depart". the72.co.uk. Retrieved 31 January 2018.
- ^ "Former Manchester United defender Sadiq El Fitouri joins Ahli Tripoli". Kingfut.com. King Fut. 29 July 2017. Retrieved 14 August 2017.
- ^ "Sadiq El Fitouri signs with Politehnica". Politehnica.ro (in Romanian). 30 January 2018. Retrieved 16 April 2018.
- ^ Swan, Rob. "What happened to the Salford City player Phil Neville told Man Utd to sign in 2015". givemesport.com. Retrieved 16 April 2018.
- ^ "Sadiq El Fitouri contract peacefully terminated". Politehnica.ro (in Romanian). 28 March 2018. Retrieved 16 April 2018.
- ^ "الهلال يضم الفيتوري ويشطب أمبدة" (in Arabic). 14 March 2019. Retrieved 5 June 2023 – via Facebook.
- ^ Musiimenta, Ronald (16 March 2019). "Ex Manchester united Defender joins Al Hilal". SOKAFRIKA. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
- ^ @MaineRoadFC (6 February 2022). "Ex Manchester United Starlet And Chesterfield Man. Sadiq El Fitouri Has Joined Us" (Tweet). Retrieved 26 April 2023 – via Twitter.
- ^ "El-Fitouri, Sadiq". National Football Teams. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
- ^ "Morocco - Libya 1:0 (Africa Cup Qual. 2015/2016, Group F)". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 25 September 2015.
- ^ . Pitchero. 3 January 2015. Archived from the original on 25 September 2015. Retrieved 5 February 2017.
- ^ "Sadiq El Fitouri". Soccerway. Retrieved 5 February 2017.
- ^ "El Fitouri, Sadiq". National-Football-Teams.com. Retrieved 5 February 2017.