Sofiane Hanni (; born 29 December 1990) is an Algerian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Qatari club Al-Ahli and the Algeria national team. After starting out at Nantes in France, he went on to compete professionally in Turkey, Belgium and Russia. Hanni is an Algeria international, gaining his first cap for the full side in June 2016, aged 25, in an Africa Cup of Nations qualification match against Seychelles. Hanni played in a different types of the midfield position, mostly attacking. Club career Nantes Born in Ivry-sur-Seine, France, Hanni started out his career at Ivry, where his father was coaching when he first joined, and Boulogne-Billancourt before joining FC Nantes in 2005. When he turned eighteen, Hanni signed his first professional contract with FC Nantes. In the last game of the 2008–09 season against Auxerre, Hanni was called up to the first team for the first team by Manager Élie Baup, appearing as an unused substitute. Hanni made his professional debut on 1 December 2009 in a league match against Sedan, making his only appearance in the 2009–10 season. On 11 June 2010, Hanni was slated to sign a one-year contract with hometown club Paris Saint-Germain. However, a week later, it was announced that he would not be joining the club due to a disagreement between the club and the player's father. It wasn't until on 12 February 2011 when he made his first appearance of the 2010–11 season, coming on as a late substitute, in a 1–0 loss against Vannes OC. Hanni made his first starts for FC Nantes, playing 71 minutes before being substituted, in a 0–0 draw against Châteauroux. At the end of the 2010–11 season, Hanni went on to make three appearances for the side. Following this, Hanni was not offered a new contract by FC Nantes, which disappointed him, as he was expected to succeed at the club and experienced this as a failure. Despite this, he was asked about the memories at FC Nantes and responded: "Good. It was there that I got to know the world and the demands of the professional world." Kayseri Erciyesspor After leaving FC Nantes, Hanni revealed that his agent offered him a move to Turkey, but he wasn't interested. However, Hanni ultimately give in to a trial at after there was no offers in his homeland, France, and went on a trial at second