ISL Transfer News: Chennaiyin FC rope in Dutch midfielder Nasser El Khayati ahead of 2022-23 season
Earlier on Friday (September 30), Indian Super League (ISL) outfit Chennaiyin FC announced that the club has acquired the services of Dutch attacking midfielder Nasser El Khayati for the 2022-23 season.
El Khayati will be replacing Rafael Crivellaro in the Marina Machans squad for the upcoming season.
Born in Rotterdam, El Khayati started playing football for the youth setup of Excelsior before moving to Feyenoord in 2003. He later joined RKSV Leonidas' youth setup.
The attacking midfielder made his professional debut in Den Bosch colors on October 3, 2008, when the club squared up against Excelsior. He played in various outfits across the Netherlands and Cyprus before heading to England.
On January 29, 2015, Nasser El Khayati joined English club Burton Albion before moving to Championship side Queens Park Rangers in 2016. After terminating his contract with QPR on August 23, 2017, El Khayati moved back to the Netherlands and signed for ADO Den Haag on a three-year contract.
In 2019, the Dutch attacking midfielder moved to Asia to join Qatari outfit Qatar Sports Club. The midfielder rejoined his former side ADO Den Haag on a short-term deal after mutually terminating his contract with the Qatari side.
In a club statement, the Dutch attacking midfielder shared his excitement about joining Chennaiyin FC. He said:
"I am very excited and happy to join Chennaiyin FC and can’t wait to see the boys and get started. I am hopeful that we will have a great season and I will do my best."
Rafael Crivellaro fails to make it to Chennaiyin FC's ISL 2022-23 squad
Brazilian midfield maestro Rafael Crivellaro has failed to make an impression on the Marina Machans manager Thomas Brdaric. He was sidelined due to an injury last season and failed to return to form. The 33-year-old has not been able to manage any game time for himself and has only featured in training matches for the Chennai-based club.