Mounir El Hamdaoui

1.1. Youth career and early professional debut

El Hamdaoui went through the youth academy of Excelsior Rotterdam, a club based in his hometown of Rotterdam. During his time there, he played alongside future notable footballers such as Robin van Persie and Saïd Boutahar, forming part of a promising generation of players. He made his professional debut for Excelsior during the 2001-02 Eerste Divisie season under manager Adrie Koster. In his inaugural season, he quickly demonstrated his attacking prowess, scoring two goals in just six appearances. Throughout his tenure at Excelsior, El Hamdaoui played a total of 74 league matches, scoring 32 goals. Despite interest from Excelsior's larger affiliate club, Feyenoord, where he occasionally trained with the first squad, a permanent transfer to Feyenoord never materialized.

2.1. Tottenham Hotspur and loan spells

In January 2005, El Hamdaoui made a move to English football, signing a three-and-a-half-year contract with Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur, then managed by fellow Dutchman Martin Jol. Although he participated in friendly matches, even scoring against Northampton Town and Aldershot Town, and helped the club win the Peace Cup in 2005 against Olympique Lyonnais, he never made a competitive appearance in the Premier League for Tottenham.

In September 2005, he was loaned to Championship side Derby County. He made six appearances and scored two goals for Derby before a dislocated shoulder injury forced his loan to be cut short. Despite the injury, Derby County continued to monitor his progress, and he returned to Pride Park for a second loan spell in January 2006. This period was again plagued by injuries, as a groin problem forced him back to Tottenham in early March. Although this second loan was not officially cancelled, another injury problem prematurely ended his season after he returned to duty with Derby in April.

2.2. Willem II

In June 2006, due to a lack of opportunities at Tottenham Hotspur, El Hamdaoui decided to return to the Netherlands, joining Willem II. He made an immediate impact, scoring on his league debut on 19 August 2006 in a 2-1 victory against FC Utrecht. Following an impressive start with three goals in his first four matches, he unfortunately suffered another significant injury, a torn cruciate ligament in his knee, which sidelined him for nine months. This injury severely limited his time on the pitch, and he only managed to play seven competitive matches for the Tilburg-based side, scoring three goals in total. In his second season at Willem II, he made only two league appearances before transferring to AZ Alkmaar.

2.3. AZ Alkmaar

On 31 August 2007, El Hamdaoui signed with AZ Alkmaar on a contract set to run until 2011, joining as a direct replacement for Danny Koevermans, who had moved to PSV Eindhoven. He quickly made an impact, scoring on his debut for AZ on 16 September 2007 in a league match against Sparta Rotterdam. By the end of his first season with AZ, he had scored 7 goals in 23 league appearances.

The 2008-09 Eredivisie season proved to be a standout period for both El Hamdaoui and AZ. He began the season by scoring in the opening game against NAC Breda, despite AZ's 2-1 loss. By the winter break, his goal-scoring form was exceptional, having netted 16 goals in 17 league matches, including a notable hat-trick against his former club, Willem II. At this point, AZ was leading the league table, and El Hamdaoui was at the top of the goal-scoring charts. By the season's conclusion, AZ Alkmaar had achieved only the second championship title in their history. El Hamdaoui played a crucial role in this success, finishing as the Eredivisie's top scorer with 23 goals in 31 matches, one more than Luis Suárez of Ajax. His outstanding performance was further recognized when he was named the Dutch Footballer of the Year.

The 2009-10 Eredivisie season brought significant changes to AZ, with manager Louis van Gaal departing for FC Bayern Munich and Ronald Koeman taking over. The defending champions had a difficult start to the season, yet El Hamdaoui still managed to score 9 goals in 11 matches by the winter break. AZ found themselves in eighth place, significantly behind leaders PSV. Koeman was subsequently fired just before the winter break and replaced by veteran manager Dick Advocaat. Advocaat publicly expressed high expectations for El Hamdaoui, anticipating at least 15 or 16 goals from him, a statement that El Hamdaoui responded to positively, acknowledging Advocaat's experience. He continued to be a key player, finishing the season with 19 league goals.

2.4. AFC Ajax

On 30 July 2010, Mounir El Hamdaoui signed a four-year contract with Ajax, which reunited him with his former Tottenham Hotspur manager, Martin Jol. He made a remarkable debut for Ajax in the league, scoring two goals against Groningen on 8 August 2010. He also played a pivotal role in the 2010-11 UEFA Champions League play-off round, scoring in the second leg against Dynamo Kyiv, helping Ajax to a 2-1 aggregate victory and ending the club's five-year absence from the Champions League group stage. He continued his scoring form in the Champions League, netting the opening goal against Milan in a match that ended in a 1-1 draw.

However, during the 2010-11 AFC Ajax season, El Hamdaoui's relationship with manager Frank de Boer deteriorated following a dispute. De Boer, unhappy with his performance despite a goal, substituted El Hamdaoui at half-time in the semi-final of the 2010-11 KNVB Cup against RKC Waalwijk. This led to El Hamdaoui being demoted to the reserves in March 2011. While interest from clubs like Blackburn Rovers, Galatasaray, and Espanyol was reported, a transfer did not materialize. As a result of his troubled relationship with De Boer, El Hamdaoui did not make any appearances for the first team during the 2011-12 AFC Ajax season. Although he played matches with Jong Ajax and was registered for the Champions League group stages, he did not play any part in the competition. De Boer later explained that he registered players like El Hamdaoui to ensure a potential successor would have the full squad available if he were to be relieved of his duties.

2.5. ACF Fiorentina

In July 2012, Mounir El Hamdaoui finally departed from Ajax and signed with Fiorentina in the Italian Serie A, receiving the number 9 shirt and agreeing to a three-year deal. He scored his first goal in Italy on 11 November 2012 in a 3-1 away victory against Milan. On 14 December 2014, he scored in his first appearance of the season, coming on as a substitute in the 85th minute in a game against Cesena. His contract with Fiorentina expired at the end of the 2014-15 season.

2.6. Later career

After his contract with Fiorentina expired, El Hamdaoui explored various options. He initially trained with his former club Excelsior, and then began a trial with AZ Alkmaar on 13 September 2015. On 20 October 2015, he signed a contract with AZ for the remainder of the season. However, he left AZ again in January 2016, moving to Qatari club Umm Salal SC. Seven months later, in August 2016, he joined Al-Taawoun, a Saudi Professional League club that had finished fourth in the previous season.

After becoming a free agent in May 2017, El Hamdaoui continued to train with AZ to maintain his fitness. In January 2018, he trained with Jong FC Twente and subsequently signed a six-month contract with FC Twente. Despite his efforts, he suffered relegation with the Eredivisie club at the end of the season. In September 2018, El Hamdaoui returned to Excelsior for a second spell, signing a contract until the end of the 2018-19 season. He once again faced relegation with the club.

In August 2019, El Hamdaoui continued his career in Qatar, joining Al-Kharaitiyat, which played in the second-tier Qatari Second Division. In October 2020, he moved to DHSC, a Dutch fifth-tier club competing in the Hoofdklasse, at the request of Wesley Sneijder, who was involved with the club. He made his debut for DHSC on 13 October 2020 in a 5-5 draw in the KNVB District Cup against VV Jonathan, scoring a goal in the 49th minute, although DHSC later lost the penalty shootout. This match was notable as amateur divisions were suspended shortly thereafter due to the COVID-19 pandemic, making it his only appearance for some time. On 2 October 2021, he scored his first Hoofdklasse goal in a 3-1 loss to ARC. El Hamdaoui left DHSC in June 2022 and initially agreed to join SteDoCo, but cancelled his contract in August 2022 to pursue a new career path.

5.1. Club

5.2. International goals

Scores and results list Morocco's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each El Hamdaoui goal.