Decorated journeyman Youssef El-Arabi back scoring on French soil
Having left hometown club SM Caen back in 2011, Youssef El-Arabi has taken a winding road to return to Ligue 1 McDonald's.
Ahead of the curve
After 79 games and 30 goals for Caen, El-Arabi took a path now well trodden. The likes of Darwin Nunez, Ruben Neves, Théo Hernandez, and Joao Cancelo now play for Al-Hilal in Saudi Arabia, the club for which Neymar departed from PSG two years ago. However, back in 2011, El-Arabi was heading into a league not so frequented by players who had made their names in Europe.
Ultimately, he would play just one season in Saudi Arabia, netting 16 goals in 32 games, and winning the Saudi Crown Prince Cup, before returning to Europe to join Spanish side Granada CF for what, at the time, was a club record €5m fee. There, he would spend four years, playing 130 La Liga games, more than in any other league he has featured, scoring 43 goals.
But in 2016, he headed back out to Qatar, this time to join Lekhwiya SC, now called Al-Duhail SC, in Qatar. There, he would take his goalscoring ability to the next level. With an incredible 95 goals in 83 games, he would go on to become a legend at the club. It was not just the goals that flowed, but the trophies and individual accolades, too.
He was crowned Qatari champion in 2017, one year after winning the Qatari Super Cup. A Qatari League Cup would follow in 2018, the same year that he was crowned as league champion for the second time.
A European trophy at Olympiacos
But having written himself into the history books at Qatar, he would once again return to Europe, joining Olympiacos in 2019. The trophies came thick and fast in Greece, too, as Olympiacos won three consecutive league titles with the Morocco international leading the line.
The striker played 225 times for Olympiacos over a four-year spell, more than for any other side in his career, netting 94 goals, one fewer than with Al-Duhail, but registering 25 assists, his best total at any of his seven clubs to date.
However, it is the Europa Conference League title that will live longest in the memory for El-Arabi, who came off the bench in the win over Fiorentina in the final of the competition back in 2024.
EL ARABI LEVELS THE BRETON DERBY IN THE ADDED TIME! 🔥🤯 pic.twitter.com/QeNTivuqHy
— Ligue 1 English (@Ligue1_ENG) September 20, 2025
Then came a brief - but successful - one-year stint in Cyprus with APOEL Nicosia. After winning the Cypriot Super Cup, the time had come for him to finally return to France, where it all began, at the age of 38.
"I am very happy to be back in Ligue 1 McDonald's. It is a real challenge, and that it comes at a mythic club like Nantes is even better [...] I know what I can bring to the team, notably thanks to my experience," he said after signing for Les Canaris back in July on a one-year deal, with the option for a further year.
He has already shown what he can bring, scoring a goal that will live long in the memory of many Nantes fans, as they clawed their way back to draw 2-2 against rivals Nantes, thanks to El-Arabi's injury-time strike. That goal came an incredible 14 years and 142 days after his last goal in Ligue 1 McDonald's, with Caen. In the twilight of his career, he is rolling back the years.
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