 He made his debut in the starting line-up against NEC before coming off after 58 minutes, and the game ended in a 0–2 home defeat on 5 October 2008.On 9 November 2008, El Ahmadi scored his first goal for the club in a 5–2 win over Utrecht.On 22 February 2009, El Ahmadi scored his second goal for the club in a 2–0 win over De Graafschap.