Nourdin Boukhari

Nourdin Boukhari
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Personal information
Nourdin Boukhari

Full name	Nourdin Boukhari
Date of birth	June 30, 1980 (1980-06-30) (age 28)
Place of birth	Rotterdam, Netherlands
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position	Winger
Club information
Current club	Al-Ittihad
Number	10
Youth clubs
	Sparta Rotterdam
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1999-2002 2002-2006 2003-2004 2006-2007 2007 2007-2008 2008-present	Sparta Rotterdam Ajax Amsterdam → NAC Breda (loan) Nantes → AZ Alkmaar (loan) Sparta Rotterdam Al-Ittihad	76 (13) 69 (14) 28 0(5) 09 0(2) 10 0(0) 32 0(8) 0 0(0)
National team²
2001-	Morocco	07 0(1)
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 18 May 2008. ² National team caps and goals correct as of 18 May 2008. * Appearances (Goals)

Nourdin Boukhari (Arabic: نورالدين بخاري‎) (born 30 June 1980 in Kralingen, Rotterdam) is a Dutch-Moroccan footballer. He currently plays for Saudi Arabian club Al-Ittihad.

1 Club career
2 International career
3 Honours
4 References
5 External links

Club career

He started his career for Sparta where he stood out for his technical skill and subsequently signed for Ajax where he made his debut against FC Groningen on 1 September 2002.

In 2006, he joined French league side Nantes but in January 2007 he was loaned to AZ. Although not unsuccessful, AZ didn't want to buy him and Boukhari had to return to Nantes, who were relegated. Boukhari was reluctant to play in the second division and on July 7 he returned to Sparta, where he signed a contract for three years.

On February 3, 2007 he played his first Eredivisie match for AZ against PSV Eindhoven ¹ He joined Sparta Rotterdam again in July 2007 and he signed a 3-year contract.

After spending a season with Sparta Rotterdam, Boukhari was approached early in the transfer window by Saudi Arabian club Al-Ittihad, and after reaching an agreement with the player, the Saudi Arabian club utilised a term in the player's contract which allows him to leave if a limited transfer fee of €1.5 million was paid.

However, the Saudi Arabian side were to pay the transfer fee to Sparta last week, but refused to do so. Instead of paying the fee, they decided to send a lawyer to declare that they wanted to cancel the deal.

Al-Ittihad manager Gabriel Calderon is reportedly unhappy about Boukhari's lack of match fitness. The Argentine boss doesn’t think Boukhari can reach the desired level of fitness in the coming weeks. Therefore, he asked his board to cancel the transfer.

However, the Eredivisie side are no longer interested in the services of the tricky attacker. “The transfer is a done deal and we expect to receive the money into our account,” said director Peter Bonthuis.

The Rotterdam side are now likely to file a complaint to FIFA regarding the Saudi Arabian club's sudden change of action.²

International career

Boukhari chose to represent Morocco in international football. The choice is significant as it represents the strong ties many Dutch youths with Moroccan roots have with their parents' native country. Over the years, Boukhari has addressed the bad publicity surrounding Moroccan-Dutch youths, stating he wishes to set an example as a successful young Dutch-Moroccan. In 2003, he appeared in the music video for "Kutmarokkanen" (a negative term used by some to address Morroccan youth) by Dutch-Moroccan rapper Raymzter. He made his international debut in a November 2001 friendly match against Zambia.