Yacine Brahimi

Early career

Brahimi was born in Paris to Algerian parents and grew up in the eastern suburbs of Paris in Montreuil in Seine-Saint-Denis. While growing up, he often emulated Zinedine Zidane while playing street football with friends. Brahimi began his football career playing for his local club ASB Montreuil. After a four-year stint there, he joined CO Vincennois, known for producing Ligue 1 player Blaise Matuidi, in nearby Vincennes. Two years later, Brahimi was selected to attend the renowned Clairefontaine academy in 2003 in order to further his development. While training at Clairefontaine during the week, he regularly played for Vincennois on the weekends. In his final year at Clairefontaine, Brahimi spent a year at the Camp des Loges, the youth training centre of Paris Saint-Germain, training alongside youth international teammate Mamadou Sakho. Despite being courted by several French and European clubs, following his stint at Clairefontaine, he signed an aspirant (youth) contract with Rennes. In October 2010, Brahimi cited choosing Rennes as his destination because of the club's educational value, stating, "In Rennes, the academy gives much importance to the schoolwork", and, "It was a warranty for my parents. They advised me to choose Stade Rennes. That way, I could continue my football training while preparing my Baccalauréat."

Rennes

Brahimi joined Rennes and quickly became a part of a slew of talent in the club's youth academy. He joined Damien Le…

France

As early as age 13, Brahimi began featuring with regional youth teams playing for Île-de-France alongside future youth international teammates Mamadou Sakho, Tripy Makonda, Maxime Partouche and Sébastien Corchia. Brahimi made his debut for the under-16 team on 21 March 2006 converting a penalty in a 3–1 victory over Germany. He played with the under-16 team at the 2006 edition of the Montaigu Tournament playing in all four matches the team contested as France were crowned champions defeating Italy 2–1 in the final. With the under-17 team, Brahimi made his debut on 25 September in a qualification match for the 2007 UEFA European Under-17 Championship against Lithuania. France won the match 4–2 with Brahimi making a substitute appearance. Despite appearing in the first round of qualification, Brahimi was absent from the tournament itself, due to the player struggling to adapt at his new club domestically. He later failed to make the team that qualified for the 2007 FIFA U-17 World Cup, which was achieved by virtue of their semi-final appearance in the UEFA-sanctioned tournament. Brahimi made his debut with the under-18 team on 18 December 2007 in a friendly match against Portugal in a 1–0 loss and later featured in two friendly matches against Germany, one of which was played at the GAZi-Stadion auf der Waldau in Stuttgart. With the under-19 team, Brahimi appeared in all 19 matches scoring 12 goals. He was immense during the 2009 UEFA European Under-19…

Described as "technically gifted player", Brahimi is known for his great dribbling abilities and ability to take on players. Described by many coaches and journalists as a "Versatile winger that is unpredictable," Brahimi has earned himself the name as a great dribbler and a winger with pace and skill, earning himself the 2014 BBC African player of the year.

Brahimi is a practicing Muslim.