Tunisia: Premier League Nations
The next destination of our alphabetical world tour is Tunisia. According to the Premier League website, five players have represented Tunisia in the Premier League. This does not include Yan Valery, the current Southampton defender who will reportedly switch his international allegiance from France to Tunisia, but has seemingly not done so at the time of writing.
First Player – Radhi Jaïdi (Bolton, Birmingham; 2004-06, 2007-08)
The first player to represent Tunisia in the Premier League was defender Radhi Jaïdi, who featured for Bolton Wanderers and Birmingham City in the mid-2000s.
Jaïdi moved to Bolton in 2004 at the age of 28, having spent his entire senior career with Tunisian club Esperance up to then. He joined Birmingham in 2006, then in the Championship, and featured during their unsuccessful 2007/08 Premier League campaign.
Injury curtailed much of the remainder of Jaïdi’s club career, the majority of which was spent with Southampton in the second and third tiers. Jaïdi enjoyed a successful international career, winning over 105 caps over 13 years and helping Tunisia win the 2004 Africa Cup Of Nations.
Records
- Most appearances – Radhi Jaïdi (61)
- First appearance – Radhi Jaïdi (Southampton 1-2 BOLTON, August 25th 2004)
- Most goals – Radhi Jaïdi (8)
- First goal – Radhi Jaïdi (Arsenal 2-2 BOLTON, September 18th 2004)
Current/Most Recent Players
If Yan Valery does switch to Tunisia, he would become the only current Tunisian in the Premier League. As it stands, the most recent Premier League Tunisians were Yohan Benalouane and Wahbi Khazri; the only two Tunisians to appear in the Premier League in the 2010s.
Trivia
- Tunisia are one of 32 CAF nations to have featured in the Premier League.
- Three of the five Tunisians to appear in the Premier League were born in France (Benalouane, Khazri and Nafti)
- Rahdi Jaïdi is the most capped Tunisian of all time (105).
- All five Premier League Tunisians have appeared for their country at a World Cup Finals tournament.