Islam Feruz

Celtic

At age 10, Celtic fan Feruz was discovered by Celtic youth coach John Simpson while playing a kickabout at Castlemilk Sports Centre, and joined Celtic's youth academy. Feruz was playing in Celtic's under-14 team at age 11. The team's manager John Sludden said that after only 20 minutes he could tell Feruz was a special player and compared his talent to that of Paul McStay, Charlie Nicholas and Aiden McGeady. When Feruz was aged 12, he and his family were threatened with deportation back to his country of birth. Celtic youth coach Tommy Burns successfully campaigned for them to be able stay in Scotland, and for the Feruzes to be granted British passports. Feruz's first match for Celtic came in 2009 when, aged 14, he made an appearance in Tommy Burns' memorial match. At the start of the 2011–12 season, there was speculation that Feruz was going to leave the club for Chelsea. Celtic manager Neil Lennon said in August that he had not seen the player since the start of the season. He also expressed his disappointment that a player who Celtic had helped to stay in the country and moved into an expensive flat was possibly going to leave the club. However, he did not blame Feruz but his agents, who he felt were "badly advising" the player, for the situation.

Chelsea

Feruz moved to English Premier League club Chelsea in September 2011, after rejecting a professional contract at Celtic. Because of "a flaw in the legal system" Chelsea were able to sign him for…

Although he was born abroad and has no Scottish heritage, Feruz is able to play for Scotland under the new school qualification rule, which allows players with five years of education in a country before the age of 18 to play for that country's national football team. In 2009, Feruz declared that he would play for the Scotland national team. He was the first footballer to switch to Scotland under this rule, a change in FIFA's guidelines which Scottish Football Association chief executive Gordon Smith had pursued to accommodate players in Feruz's position. In September 2009, Feruz was called up to the Scotland under-17 team at only 14 years of age. He scored on his debut against Cyprus. In April 2012, he was called up to the Scotland under-21 team aged 16, for a match against Italy. The cap would make him the youngest player ever to feature for Scotland U21s. After turning in a poor performance at an Under-20 tournament in the Netherlands in May 2012, Feruz attracted some controversy when he tweeted that he "would love to play in the African Nation Cup! Despite being eligible to play for 2 African countries other than Som :P MyDream!!! :D". According to The Scotsman, unverified reports suggest that Feruz could play for these two nations due to family connections. His Twitter account was closed on 29 May, following "encouragement for him to do so from Chelsea." On 14 October 2012, Feruz scored a hat-trick for the Scotland Under-19 team in a 4–3 victory against Switzerland,…

As of match played 30 April 2017.

Feruz was born in Somalia. He was raised by his mother Aisha and stepfather Albashir Ali. He has three sisters: Kauthar, Ethil and Rahma. Wales Online and The Scottish Sun indicate that there is some uncertainty about his childhood and background. The family lived in Tanzania before emigrating directly to the UK. The family initially moved to London when Feruz was aged five, before later re-locating to Glasgow. There, he attended Hillhead High School, one of the most racially diverse secondary schools in Scotland. He and his family originally lived in a high-rise flat in Castlemilk, but Feruz later moved them to an upscale area in Glasgow's Charing Cross.