Mehdi Nafti

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Mehdi Nafti
Personal information
Full name	Mehdi Nafti
Date of birth	November 28, 1978 (age 28)
Place of birth	Toulouse, France
Height	178cm
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Birmingham City
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1997-00 2000-05 2005 2005-	Toulouse Racing Santander → Birmingham City (loan) Birmingham City	25 (1) 75 (3) 10 (0) 26 (0)
National team2
2002-	Tunisia	32 (1)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 19:58, 4 March 2007 (UTC). 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 6 August 2006. * Appearances (Goals)

Mehdi Nafti (Arabic: مهدي نافطي‎) (born November 28, 1978 in Toulouse) is a French-born Tunisian football player.

He was signed on loan by Birmingham City in the January transfer window of 2005 from Racing de Santander. Often referred to as "Nasty", due to his fiery nature and tendency for cautions, he was primarily signed to replace the outgoing Robbie Savage, whose acrimonious departure infuriated Birmingham fans. Nafti finished the season strongly leading to many fans looking for a permanent acquisition. This happened in the closed season with Nafti signing a permanent deal with the club.

Sadly, Nafti's 2005/6 season has to come to end before it has begun, with a bad injury to his cruciate ligaments which looks likely to keep him out of contention until summer 2006.

However, on the last day of the 2005/2006 season, Nafti surprised most Birmingham fans and made his return for the club against Bolton Wanderers at the Reebok stadium. Although Birmingham were already relegated, the return will be of some good news for Blues fans as Nafti will be a vital part of the team in 2006/2007 as it tries to return to the Premier League, at the first time of asking.

[edit] External links

• Mehdi Nafti career stats at Soccerbase

	Tunisia squad - 2006 FIFA World Cup
1 Boumnijel | 2 Essediri | 3 Haggui | 4 Yahia | 5 Jaziri | 6 Trabelsi | 7 Guemamdia | 8 Nafti | 9 Chikhaoui | 10 Ghodhbane | 11 Santos | 12 Mnari | 13 Bouazizi | 14 Chedli | 15 Jaïdi | 16 Nefzi | 17 Ben Saada | 18 Jemmali | 19 Ayari | 20 Namouchi | 21 Saidi | 22 Kasraoui | 23 Melliti | Coach: Lemerre

Birmingham City F.C. - Current Squad
1 Taylor | 2 Kelly | 3 Sadler | 4 Taylor | 6 Clemence | 7 Larsson | 8 Cole | 9 Forssell | 10 Jerome | 11 Gray | 12 Nafti | 13 Doyle | 14 Campbell | 15 Kilkenny | 16 Tébily | 17 Danns | 19 Vine | 21 N'Gotty | 22 Johnson | 23 Birley | 24 Jaïdi | 25 Aluko | 26 Muamba | 27 Bendtner | 28 McSheffrey | 29 Legzdins | 31 Pearce | Manager: Bruce