Samir Nasri

Early career

While growing up in La Gavotte Peyret, Nasri regularly played the sport on the streets where he learned many of his skills. Upon noticing his prodigious talent, his parents signed him up to play with the local club in his hometown. Nasri spent one year playing with the club in La Gavotte Peyret before moving to Pennes Mirabeau in nearby Mirabeau at age seven. While playing with Pennes, Nasri was discovered by Marseille scout Freddy Assolen, who had been informed of the player's talent through local word of mouth. After noticing Nasri's skill in person, Assolen recruited the player to travel with a group of other young players to Italy to participate in a youth tournament where they would play against the youth academies of Milan and Juventus. Nasri impressed at the tournament and Assolen was jokingly told by a Milan scout that "he [Nasri] stays here, you leave him". After returning to France, Marseille officials organized a meeting with the player's father and the group agreed to allow Nasri insertion into the club's academy at the age of nine.

Olympique de Marseille

Upon entering the Marseille youth academy, Nasri quickly impressed. Upon moving to Bastide, where the club's youth players reside, his style of play began to take shape. In 2007, Nasri admitted that the move to Bastide really helped his game, stating, "That's where I really started to progress. Training was different and the facilities are beautiful, all of which helps you work…

Youth

Nasri has earned caps with all of France's youth teams for which he was eligible. He is a member of the group, commonly known as the "Génération 1987" which produced internationals Hatem Ben Arfa, Karim Benzema and Jérémy Ménez, alongside himself. With the under-16 team, Nasri made 16 appearances and scored eight goals. Of the four players, Nasri was the first player to become a regular starter in the team under coach François Blaquart and made his debut in the team's opening match of the campaign against Spain. France won the match 3–0. Nasri scored his first goal for the team on 29 October in its first group stage match against Sweden at the Tournoi du Val-de-Marne. On 11 December, Nasri scored the opening goal in the team's 6–1 defeat of Greece. At the 2003 Aegean Cup in Turkey, he scored two goals in four matches as France finished the competition in third place. Nasri scored in the team's second group stage match against Israel, a 3–1 win. In the next group stage match, he scored a goal in 5–0 win over Ukraine. In the third place match against Belgium, Nasri assisted on a goal scored by Ben Arfa. At the Tournoi de Montaigu, Nasri scored his only goal in the team's 8–0 win over Gabon in the team's opening group match. France finished the competition runner-up to Italy, who defeated France 5–1 in the final match. At under-17 level, Nasri, Menez and Ben Arfa were joined by Karim Benzema and tasked with the goal of winning the 2004 UEFA European Under-17…

In his early years at Marseille, Nasri was deployed in several positions, most notably as a deep-lying midfielder and a wide midfielder primarily on the right side as he was deemed too small to play in the middle of the park. After two years of developing his physical traits, in the 2006–07 season, manager Albert Emon inserted Nasri into the playmaker role, where his vision, passing, technical skill and ability to read and understand the game suited him. Since that season, Nasri was primarily deployed in the position or as a central attacking midfielder at both club and international level. The player personally said that playing centrally was his preference. As a result of his versatility, Nasri could also function on the wing and spent the majority of his career at Arsenal occupying the role in the team's 4–3–3 formation. His close control with the ball, speed, dribbling, crossing, and ability to use both feet suited the position well, which resulted in former manager Arsène Wenger deploying Nasri in the role during the player's four-year stay at the club. Nasri often featured centrally for Arsenal in the absence of former club captain Cesc Fàbregas. In 2009, in order to accommodate the arrival of Russian attacker Andrey Arshavin, it was recommended by both Wenger and then-France national team coach Raymond Domenech that Nasri revert to his role as a deep-lying midfielder so the player could showcase his underrated defensive abilities. Nasri was also an underrated direct…

Nasri was born in Septèmes-les-Vallons, a northern suburb of Marseille, to French nationals of Algerian descent. His mother, Ouassila Ben Saïd, and father, Abdelhafid Nasri, were both born in France; his father being born and raised in Marseille, and his mother being from the nearby Salon-de-Provence. Nasri's grandparents emigrated to France from Algeria. His mother is a housewife and his father previously worked as a bus driver before becoming his son's personal manager. At the start of his football career, Nasri initially played under his mother's surname, Ben Saïd, before switching to Nasri, his father's surname, following his selection to the France under-16 team. He is the eldest of four siblings and describes himself as a non-practicing Muslim. Nasri has a younger sister named Sonia and twin brothers named Walid and Malik. All four were raised in La Gavotte Peyret. After joining Arsenal in England, Nasri settled in Hampstead, a district of North London. His cousin, Kaïs Nasri, is also a professional footballer.