Ahmad Benali

Ahmad Benali

Personal information
Date of birth	(1992-02-07) 7 February 1992
Place of birth	Manchester, England
Height	1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Team information
Current team	Brescia
Number	17
Youth career
2001–2010	Manchester City
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2010–2012	Manchester City	0	(0)
2011	→ Rochdale (loan)	2	(0)
2012–	Brescia	35	(3)
International career‡
2008–2009	England U17	5	(0)
2012-	Libya	2	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 12:59, 8 April 2013 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 15 June 2013

Ahmad Benali (أحمد بن علي) (born 7 February 1992 in Manchester, England) is a Libyan footballer playing as an offensive midfielder and has also been used as a deep lying playmaker because of his technical quality. He is currently playing for Italian side Brescia.

Career

Benali started his career in the youth team of Manchester City, and signed his first professional contract on his 17th birthday. He captained the side he supported as a child up until reserve level where he found it difficult to break into the first team as of the take over that had just happened. He was ruled out of the 2010/2011 season through injury as he had two ankle operations. He returned to form in the last 6 months of 2011/2012 season scoring 6 goals in 9 games for the reserve team promoting interest at the end of his contract. In the summer of 2012 he signed for Italian side Brescia on a 3 year contract. Having an injury hit first season he was limited to 12 appearances but has gone on to cement a place in the side in his second season and has been reportedly attracted interest from a number of clubs across Europe and the Middle East. He was called up to represent the Libyan national team for the 2012 African nations cup but due to problems with his papers he was unable to play and finally made his debut competitively against Kenya in 2013. It was reported that he fell out with the manager at the time but this was denied by Benali and the Libyan national team.

Personal life

Benali attended Stretford Grammar School from 2003 to 2008. He has a younger brother, Omar Benali who has joined the Manchester City Football academy. He is a muslim and is married with a child who was born in September 2013.

External links

• Ahmad Benali at Soccerbase

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