Kerim Mrabti

Abdallah Kerim Mrabti (born 20 May 1994) is a Swedish footballer who plays as a midfielder for Belgian First Division A club KV Mechelen.

Kerim Mrabti
Mrabti with Birmingham City in 2019
Personal information
Full name Abdallah Kerim Mrabti[1]
Date of birth (1994-05-20) 20 May 1994
Place of birth Nacka, Stockholm, Sweden[2]
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s) Midfielder / Striker
Club information
Current team
 KV Mechelen
Number 19
Youth career
1999–2010 Enköpings SK
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2011–2012 Enköpings SK 26 (6)
2013–2014 IK Sirius 45 (5)
2015–2018 Djurgårdens IF 77 (18)
2019–2020 Birmingham City 27 (3)
2020– KV Mechelen 15 (4)
National team‡
2011–2013 Sweden U19 4 (0)
2014–2017 Sweden U21 17 (5)
2016–2018 Sweden 3 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 18:20, 16 January 2021 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 08:58, 18 August 2020 (UTC)

He began his career with Enköpings SK, and moved on to for IK Sirius and Djurgårdens IF, with whom he won the 2017–18 Svenska Cupen. In January 2019, he joined English EFL Championship (second-tier) club Birmingham City on an 18-month contract, and signed for KV Mechelen in August 2020. He made his senior international debut for Sweden in 2016.

Career

Mrabti was born in Stockholm and moved to Enköping as a five-year-old. He started out playing for the local club Enköpings SK.[3] At 17 he played a big part in Enköping winning their fourth tier league and getting promoted.[4] After the following season had ended in November 2012 he trialed with Uppsala based club IK Sirius and impressed enough to be signed on a two-year deal.[5]

After two seasons with IK Sirius, one in the third tier and the next in the second-tier Superettan, Mrabti was sold to Allsvenskan club Djurgårdens IF in early 2015 for 600,000–700,000 SEK.[6] On 25 May Mrabti scored his first two goals for Djurgården in the Tvillingderby against local rival AIK in front of 27,137 people at the Tele2 Arena in a game which ended 2–2.[7] At the end of the 2015 Allsvenskan season he received the player of the year award by the club's supporter group Järnkaminerna as well as the award for best newcomer of the year in the entire league.[8][9] Ahead of the new season in 2017 Mrabti was handed the number 10 shirt. On 10 May 2018 he scored as Djurgården beat Malmö FF 3–0 in the Swedish Cup Final.[10]

He left the club at the end of the season, and on 18 January 2019, signed an 18-month contract on a free deal with Birmingham City of the EFL Championship, the second tier of football in England.[11] Always in or around the first team but never a regular in the starting eleven, Mrabti made 27 appearances in all competitions (18 league starts) and scored three goals.[12] The arrival of Scott Hogan in January 2020 and the season interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic further restricted his opportunities, and he left the club when his contract expired in June 2020.[13][14]

After training with his former club, Djurgården, Mrabti signed a three-year contract with KV Mechelen of the Belgian First Division A.[15]

International career

Mrabti has represented both the Sweden national under-19 football team and the Sweden national under-21 football team.[16] In January 2016 he suffered an ACL injury only 25 minutes into his senior debut for Sweden against Estonia.[17] Mrabti was expected to back in full training in September later that year.[18] He was included in Sweden's squad in December 2017.[19]

Despite playing for Sweden in friendly matches, Tunisia were keen to add him to their 2018 World Cup squad.[20] On 13 May 2018 Mrabti announced he had turned down the opportunity.[21] He was called into Sweden's squad in December 2018.[22]

Personal life

Mrabti's father is Tunisian while his mother is half Swedish and half Finnish.[23] He first became a Djurgårdens IF supporter after attending the 2003–04 UEFA Champions League qualifier against FK Partizan and he also visited the Djurgården training grounds to collect autographs from the players.[23] In November 2016 Mrabti said in the Fan-TV show "08 Fotboll" that his dream was to one day play in the German Bundesliga.

Career statistics

International
As of 11 January 2018.[24]
National teamYearAppsGoals
Sweden 201610
201820
Total30

Honours
Mrabti playing for Djurgårdens IF in 2015

Djurgårdens IF

Individual

References
  1. "Notification of shirt numbers: Birmingham City" (PDF). English Football League. p. 4. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
  2. "Kerim Mrabti". svenskfotboll.se (in Swedish). Swedish Football Association. 1 September 2011.
  3. "Kerim Mrabti klar för Djurgården" (in Swedish). Djurgårdens IF. 8 February 2015. Archived from the original on 13 April 2015. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
  4. "ESK klart för ettan" (in Swedish). Upsala Nya Tidning. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  5. "Kerim Mrabti till Sirius" (in Swedish). IK Sirius. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
  6. "Mrabti såldes för att rädda ekonomin" (in Swedish). Upsala Nya Tidning. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  7. "Mrabti räddade poäng åt Djurgården" (in Swedish). Swedish Football Association. Retrieved 25 May 2015.
  8. "Årets Järnkamin 2015: Kerim Mrabti" (in Swedish). Järnkaminerna. 2 November 2015. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
  9. "Årets nykomling 2015: Kerim Mrabti" [Newcomer of the year 2015: Kerim Mrabti] (in Swedish). Swedish Football Association. 9 November 2015. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
  10. "Djurgården cupmästare" [Djurgården cupwinners] (in Swedish). Djurgårdens IF. 10 May 2018. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
  11. "Kerim Mrabti: Birmingham City sign Sweden midfielder on free transfer". BBC Sport. 18 January 2019. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
  12. "K. Mrabti". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  13. Dick, Brian (3 June 2020). "Revealed: Birmingham City star set for end of season exit". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  14. "Birmingham City: Kerim Mrabti leaves as Scott Hogan extends loan stay". BBC Sport. 10 June 2020. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  15. Husband, Ben (18 August 2020). "Birmingham City cast off completes transfer after St Andrew's exit". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  16. "Första truppen för nya U21-landslaget" (in Swedish). Swedish Football Association. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  17. "Bekräftat: Stjärnan är korsbandsskadad". Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Retrieved 7 January 2016.
  18. "Bekräftat: Efter Mrabtis skada – först då är han tillbaka". Fotbolldirekt.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 10 January 2016.
  19. "Sveriges trupp till januariturnén 2018". www.expressen.se.
  20. "Maaloul keen on Mrabti for Tunisia" – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  21. "Inget VM för Mrabti: "Har tackat nej"". fotbollskanalen.
  22. "Rätt spelare på vinterturné men helt fel resmål". fotbollskanalen.
  23. "PÅ FD: Djurgårdens succéförvärv: "Vi kommer gå för en topp-placering"" (in Swedish). FotbollDirekt. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  24. "Landslagsdatabasen: Kerim Mrabti" [National team database: Kerim Mrabti] (in Swedish). The Swedish Football Association. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
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