Hassan Yebda

Club

Belenenses

Position

Midfielder

Nationality

Algeria

Date of birth

1984-05-14

Birthplace

Saint-Maurice, France

Height

1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)

Weight

76.64

Signing / transfer fee

Free

Hassan Yebda (Arabic: حسان يبدة‎; born 14 May 1984) is an Algerian professional footballer who plays for Portuguese club C.F. Os Belenenses as a central midfielder.

During his professional career he played in France, Portugal, England, Italy and Spain, representing a host of clubs.

Yebda appeared for France at youth level, but opted to play for Algeria as a senior in August 2009, taking advantage of FIFA’s new ruling which allowed him to change his national allegiance despite being older than 21 years of age. He represented the latter national team in two World Cups and the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations.

Club career
France
Born in Saint-Maurice, Val-de-Marne, Yebda emerged through AJ Auxerre's youth system, but made no appearances for the first team during his stint, playing regularly for the reserves in the Championnat de France amateur.

In January 2006, he was loaned to Ligue 2's Stade Lavallois. In the same month of the following year, Yebda was definitely released and moved to Le Mans UC72, making his Ligue 1 debut on 17 February 2007 in a 0–2 away loss against FC Sochaux-Montbéliard: brought on in the 70th minute, he scored an own goal ten minutes later, in his only appearance of the season.

Benfica
In 2007–08, Yebda appeared regularly for Le Mans, helping the team achieve a comfortable ninth place in the league. On 29 May 2008, he signed a four-year contract with S.L. Benfica on a free transfer. A constant midfield fixture, he was voted the Primeira Liga's Player of the Month in September and, in February 2009, he netted his first league goal for the Lisbon club in a 1–1 league draw at FC Porto.

Yebda made a move to Premier League side Portsmouth on 1 September 2009, on a season-long loan. He scored his first goal on 3 October, against Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux Stadium, which was the winner in their first victory of the campaign; his second came in a 2–1 away win against Burnley on 27 February 2010, with Pompey being eventually relegated.

On 27 August 2010, Yebda was again loaned, joining S.S.C. Napoli in a season-long move. He netted his first goal the following 18 January, in a 2–1 home win against Bologna F.C. 1909 for the Coppa Italia; on 4 July 2011, the player announced that he would not be returning to the Serie A team.

Granada
On 22 August 2011, Yebda joined Granada CF in Spain, signing a three-year contract. He made his official debut five days later, coming as a second-half substitute in a 0–1 La Liga home