Abdisalam Ibrahim

Early career

Born in Somalia, Ibrahim moved to Norway in 1998. He began his football career as a youth in Norway with Øyer-Tretten before eventually moving to Lørenskog, where he played for Fjellhamar. He got his debut for Fjellhamar's senior team in 2006. He transferred to Manchester City effective from 1 July 2007. In the spring of 2008, he was on the winning team in the FA Youth Cup final, as Manchester City beat Chelsea 4–2 on aggregate. Ibrahim played as a midfielder. At the age of 18, his style of play was compared by some at the club to then teammate Patrick Vieira. Ibrahim made his senior debut starting on 24 January 2010, in the FA Cup game against Scunthorpe United. He was on the bench in the 3–1 defeat to Manchester United in the League Cup semi-final at Old Trafford, as well as the match against Portsmouth at Eastlands on 31 January. On 21 February 2010, he made his Premier League debut as a substitute for Manchester City in a 0–0 draw against Liverpool. Ibrahim was rewarded with a new contract on 7 April 2010, which tied him to the club until 2014. Ibrahim made his League Cup debut and first starting appearance at West Brom on Wednesday, 22 September 2010. On 14 January 2011, it was announced that he would join Scunthorpe United on loan for one month, this loan period subsequently being extended in mid-February to the end of the season. On 31 July 2011, it was announced that he would join Dutch Eredivisie side NEC on a season-long loan deal. Ibrahim…

At international level, Ibrahim has represented Norway at every age group from Under 15 to Under 21. He is still eligible for both his native country Somalia as well as his adopted country, but has stated a desire to represent the Norwegian national team if called up. On 15 January 2014, he made his debut with the national team in a 2–1 away friendly win against Moldova. Having never featured for Norway in a competitive match, Ibrahim remains potentially eligible for Somalia national team.

Abdisalam has an older brother, Abdirashid Ibrahim, a semi-professional footballer formerly of FC United of Manchester and Rossendale United. He also has a little brother, Abdijabar Ibrahim, who attends ESSA Academy. Ibrahim was an Arsenal fan when growing up and Patrick Vieira was his hero and more recently Yaya Toure. His nickname is Abdi. Within a few weeks in the late spring of 2013, his younger sister died and Ibrahim became a father for the first time.