Nabil Fekir finds a new club in Saudi Arabia: the 31-year-old French international has signed with Abha Club, newly promoted to the Saudi Pro League. After several months without a contract following his departure from Real Betis, the former playmaker laces up his boots again in the Gulf.
Fekir's career has followed a trajectory that few would have anticipated at the time of his breakthrough at Olympique Lyonnais. The former captain of the Rhône club had come close to joining Liverpool before the transfer fell through. His time in Seville with Betis had allowed him to rediscover a solid level of play in La Liga, but a succession of injuries gradually weighed on his market value and limited his playing time. Leaving Spain at the end of his contract, he found himself facing a European market with little appetite to take a chance on him.
The choice of the Saudi Pro League is part of a broader trend. More and more French-speaking internationals — whether French or from West African leagues — see the Gulf as a viable, even attractive destination in the middle or latter stages of their careers. Abha Club, freshly promoted, offers him a genuine sporting challenge and exposure in one of the most widely followed leagues in the Arab world. At 31, Fekir is far from finished: he remains a high-level technician, capable of making the difference in a league that is rapidly gaining in stature. His arrival reinforces the image of a Saudi Pro League that is no longer content merely to recruit end-of-contract stars, but is also attracting players still within their competitive window.
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