André Alsanati

André Alsanati
Personal information
Full name André Alan Alsanati
Date of birth (2000-01-06) 6 January 2000 (age 24)
Place of birth Sweden
Height 1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)[1]
Position(s) Winger
Team information
Current team
 Al-Minaa
Number 20
Youth career
Triangelns IK[1]
–2014 IFK Eskilstuna
2016–2018 Hammarby IF
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014 IFK Eskilstuna[1] 3 (1)
2015–2016 Eskilstuna City FK[1] 22 (3)
2019–2020 Hammarby IF 0 (0)
2019–2020 → IK Frej Täby (loan) 26 (0)
2021–2022 AFC Eskilstuna 55 (9)
2023– IK Sirius 26 (3)
2024 → AC Oulu (loan) 6 (0)
2024– Al-Minaa 1 (1)
International career‡
2015–2016 Sweden U17 7 (1)
2023– Iraq 1 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 4 October 2024
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 15:16, 1 September 2023 (UTC)

André Alan Alsanati (Arabic: اندريه السناطي; born 6 January 2000) is a professional footballer who plays as a winger for Iraq Stars League club Al-Minaa. Born in Sweden, he represents Iraq internationally.[2]

Early life

Alsanati was born and raised in Sweden to Iraqi parents.[3]

As a youth player, Alsanati received interest from clubs in England and the Netherlands but he never signed for any of the clubs.[4]

Club career

André was playing football with Eskilstuna-based clubs IFK Eskilstuna and Eskistuna City before Hammarby IF signed him in 2016. He moved on two separate but consecutive one year-loan stints at IK Frej Täby. During his last season with IK Frej, he made thirteen appearances and recorded one assist.[5]

After that, he moved on a free to AFC Eskilstuna in January 2021 in the Superettan.[6] During the 2021 season, he made twenty-seven appearances for AFC Eskilstuna.[7] He played for AFC Eskilstuna during the 2022 season as well.[8] His performances there attracted interest from Allsvenskan teams, including Elfsborg, but the transfer never materialized.[9]

On 14 November 2022, IK Sirius signed Alsanati on a 5-year contract.[10][11] He was seen as a replacement for Moustafa Zeidan.[12] He was tested in a different position upon arrival.[13] He scored on his debut against Norrkoping.[14]

On 11 July 2024, he was loaned out to Veikkausliiga club AC Oulu for the rest of the season with a purchase option.[15]

In 30 August 2024, he signed a contract with Al-Minaa to play in the Iraq Stars League.[16]

International career

Alsanati debuted for Sweden men's national under-17 football team at the age of fifteen and made seven appearances and scored one goal in total for them.[17]

André was first invited to a training camp in Antalya in January 2022 for the Iraq U-23 side.[18] He has since began procedures to obtain an Iraqi passport and represent Iraq internationally.[19] When in Baghdad to complete his paperwork in March 2023, the national team were conducting a training camp in Baghdad so manager Jesús Casas invited the player to train with the squad. On 20 May 2023, it was announced that FIFA completed the transferal of the player's paperwork to make him officially eligible to represent the Lions of Mesopotamia, and was called up to the training camp in Spain to play against Colombia in June 2023.[20]

Style of play

Alsanati has been compared[by whom?] to Lionel Messi due to his dribbling ability.[4]

References

  1. ^ a b c d "André Alsanati" (in Swedish). Fotbolltransfers. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
  2. ^ "Alsanati väljer landslagsspel med Irak". ekuriren.se.
  3. ^ "Alsanati uttagen i Iraks landslag: "Det kom 20-30 journalister"". fotbollskanalen.se.
  4. ^ a b "Jämfördes med Messi: "Har varit tufft mentalt"". expressen.se. 3 February 2021.
  5. ^ "Alsanati lämnar Hammarby: "Har inte fått ut det vi hoppats på"". fotbollsthlm.se. 6 January 2021.
  6. ^ "Alsanati: "Jag är redo om jag blir uttagen"". ekuriren.se. 7 May 2021.
  7. ^ "Alsanatis facit – redan bättre än förra året". ekuriren.se.
  8. ^ "AFC-profilen slappnar av med familjefika efter matchen". ekuriren.se.
  9. ^ "André Alsanati bemöter uppgifterna om Elfsborgs mångmiljonbud". fotbolldirekt.se.
  10. ^ "André Alsanati: "Därför blev det Sirius"". fotbolltransfers.com.
  11. ^ "Siffrorna – här är Sirius nyförvärv bäst i serien". unt.se. 16 November 2022.
  12. ^ "Superettanspelaren kan bli Zeidans ersättare i Sirius". unt.se.
  13. ^ "Alsanati saknades i premiären – testas i ny roll". ekuriren.se.
  14. ^ "Lika i Norrköping efter mål av allsvenska debutanter". omni.se. 2 April 2023.
  15. ^ ANDRÉ AL-SANATI LAINALLE AC OULUUN, acoulu.fi, 11 July 2024
  16. ^ "محترف من السويد يلتحق بالميناء". almaalomah.me (in Arabic). 31 August 2024.
  17. ^ "André Alsanati har ordnat irakiskt pass och bekräftar: Väljer Iraks landslag". sportal.se.
  18. ^ "اندريه السناطي: معسكر الاولمبي كان ناجحًا وسأعمل على إسعاد الجماهير العراقية". iq-pro.net.
  19. ^ "Sirius nye landslagsspelare: "Var en upplevelse"". unt.se.
  20. ^ "Iraq national team squad list". Twitter.