Moroccan international striker Youssef El-Arabi has signed a one-year contract with French Ligue 1 side FC Nantes, with an optional extension for a second year, the club announced on Friday.
The former Atlas Lion (45 caps, 16 goals), who played last season with Apoel Nicosia (Cyprus), is returning to the French league fourteen years after his initial departure.
“I’m very happy to return to Ligue 1. It’s a real challenge, and the fact that it’s with such a legendary club as Nantes makes it even better,” said the 38-year-old forward, quoted in the club’s statement.
Mentioning “constructive discussions” with head coach Luis Castro, El-Arabi expressed his intention to put his experience at the service of the team.
Trained at Stade Malherbe de Caen, where he began his professional career in 2009, El-Arabi made a name for himself in Ligue 1 during the 2010–2011 season by scoring 17 goals.
He later left France to join Al-Hilal (Saudi Arabia), before moving on to Granada (Spain), Al-Duhail (Qatar), Olympiacos (Greece), and more recently Apoel Nicosia.
In total, the former Moroccan international has scored 322 goals in 610 matches across all competitions. Between 2019 and 2024, he played 225 games for Olympiacos, scoring 94 goals and providing 25 assists. During this period, he won three Greek league titles (2020, 2021, 2022) and the UEFA Europa Conference League in 2024.
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