Billel Omrani

Abdel Slem Billel Omrani (Arabic: عبد السلام بلال عمراني‎; born 2 June 1993) is a French professional footballer who plays as a forward for Romanian Liga I club CFR Cluj.

Billel Omrani
Personal information
Full name Abdel Slem Billel Omrani
Date of birth (1993-06-02) 2 June 1993
Place of birth Forbach, France
Height 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)
Playing position(s) Forward
Club information
Current team
 CFR Cluj
Number 9
Youth career
1999–2006 Merlebach
2004–2006 Gymnastique Marienau
2007–2011 Marseille
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2011–2016 Marseille 6 (1)
2013–2014 → Arles-Avignon (loan) 13 (0)
2016– CFR Cluj 111 (25)
National team‡
2009–2010 France U17 11 (4)
2010 France U18 5 (1)
2012 France U19 2 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 9 March 2019
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 17 March 2016

An academy graduate of Marseille, he had a loan spell at Arles-Avignon in the Ligue 2 before moving to Romania with CFR Cluj in 2016. With the latter team, he won three domestic trophies and was named the league's Foreign Player of the Year for his performances in 2019.

Of Algerian descent, Omrani has represented France at several youth levels.

Club career

Early years / Marseille

Omrani joined Olympique de Marseille in 2007, after stints with two amateur clubs in the Moselle area. On 19 March 2011, he signed his first contract as a professional after agreeing to a three-year deal.[1] Omrani was subsequently promoted to the senior squad by manager Didier Deschamps for the 2011–12 season, being assigned the number 25 shirt. He made his professional debut on 2 October in a league fixture against Brest, entering as a substitute in the 1–1 draw.[2]

CFR Cluj

Omrani moved abroad for the first time in September 2016, signing a contract with Romanian team CFR Cluj.[3][4] He recorded his first goal on the 17th that month, in a 5–0 league thrashing of FC Voluntari.[5]

Omrani made 31 appearances and scored nine times in all competitions in the 2017–18 campaign, as "the White and Burgundies" won their fourth national title.[6] On 8 July 2018, amid reports linking him to FCSB,[7] CFR announced that he penned a contract extension that would keep him at the club for another three years.[8] Six days later, Omrani obtained the penalty from which Emmanuel Culio scored the only goal of the 2018 Supercupa României played against Universitatea Craiova.[9]

In 2019, he was linked with Celtic move.[10]

International career

Omrani is a France youth international, having represented the nation at under-17 and under-18 levels. With the former side, he played at the 2010 UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship.

Of Algerian descent, he is also eligible to represent Algeria at international level and, in October 2011, he was called up to the Algeria under-23 team to participate in friendly matches ahead of the 2011 CAF U-23 Championship.[11][12] However, the report of a call-up was deemed erroneous due to a misunderstanding between the team's coach and the Algerian media. The latter assumed the coach was calling up Omrani when he was, in fact, calling up another French-born player of Algerian origin who also played for Marseille.

In February 2013, Omrani was invited by Algeria under-20 national team coach Jean-Marc Nobilo to be a member of the team for the 2013 African U-20 Championship, but he declined the offer.[13]

Personal life

Omrani's elder brother Abdelhakim also played football in Romania for Dunărea Călărași,[14] while his elder sister Yasmina is an international heptathlete.[15]

Career statistics

Club
As of 30 September 2019[16]
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Marseille 2011–12 Ligue 1 10101000—30
2012–13 10000020—30
2014–15 410000——41
Total 61101020—101
Arles-Avignon (loan) 2013–14 Ligue 2 1300021——151
CFR Cluj 2016–17 Liga I 2852100——306
2017–18 30811———319
2018–19 32640—5310429
2019–20 16600—97102613
Total 10625510014102012937
Career total 12526823116102015439

Honours

Club

Marseille

CFR Cluj

Individual

References
  1. "Billel Omrani, un nouveau pro à l'OM!". Le Phoceen (in French). 19 March 2011. Retrieved 2 October 2011.
  2. "Marseille v. Brest Match Report". Ligue de Football Professionnel (in French). 2 October 2011. Retrieved 2 October 2011.
  3. "CFR Cluj a găsit înlocuitor pentru Lopez: un atacant de la Olympique Marseille" [CFR Cluj found a replacement for López: a forward from Olympique Marseille] (in Romanian). Ziua de Cluj. 1 September 2016.
  4. "Billel Omrani, jucător crescut de Olympique Marseille, a semnat un contract cu CFR Cluj" [Billel Omrani, youth exponent of Olympique Marseille, signed a contract with CFR Cluj] (in Romanian). News.ro. 6 September 2016. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
  5. "Liga 1: CFR Cluj - FC Voluntari 5-0/ Bud a inscris de trei ori" [Liga 1: CFR Cluj - FC Voluntari 5–0/ Bud scored three times] (in Romanian). HotNews.ro. 17 September 2016. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
  6. "CFR Cluj: lotul de jucători și alte date statistice" [CFR Cluj: player squad and other statistics] (in Romanian). Liga Profesionistă de Fotbal. 24 May 2018. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
  7. "Omrani nu s-a urcat în avionul CFR-ului spre cantonamentul din Polonia! Va semna cu FCSB?" [Omrani did not board CFR's plane to Poland! Will he sign for FCSB?] (in Romanian). Digi Sport. 30 June 2018. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
  8. "Billel Omrani ramane la CFR Cluj!" [Billel Omrani stays at CFR Cluj!] (in Romanian). CFR Cluj. 8 July 2018. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
  9. "CFR Cluj a câștigat Supercupa României 2018" [CFR Cluj won the 2018 Romanian Supercup] (in Romanian). Romanian Football Federation. 14 July 2018. Archived from the original on 15 July 2018. Retrieved 15 July 2018.
  10. Il mai vand pe Omrani la Celtic?! CFR da IAR peste SUPER CAMPIOANA din Scotia, dupa ce a scos-o din Champions League
  11. "Mehdi Abid et Billel Omrani seront bientôt parmi nous". El Watan (in French). 1 October 2011. Retrieved 2 October 2011.
  12. "Billel Omrani, la 1re cible de Vahid". Algerie360 (in French). 15 September 2011. Archived from the original on 31 March 2012. Retrieved 2 October 2011.
  13. Walid Z. (February 10, 2013). "Omrani (OM) et Ferretti (Milan) déclinent la sélection" (in French). DZFoot. Archived from the original on February 12, 2013. Retrieved February 11, 2013.
  14. "Omrani, la famille en or". Le Républicain Lorrain. 8 May 2010. Archived from the original on 9 May 2010. Retrieved 9 July 2010.
  15. Abdelhakim Omrani : « Mon choix est déjà fait, c’est l’Algérie ! » Archived 2013-01-25 at the Wayback Machine (in French). La Gazette Du Fennec. Retrieved on 2013-07-02.
  16. Billel Omrani at Soccerway. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  17. "Gala GSP 2019 // Billel Omrani, jucătorul străin al anului: „Mulțumesc, România!"" [GSP Gala 2019 // Billel Omrani, foreign player of the year: "Thank you, Romania!"]. Gazeta Sporturilor (in Romanian). 17 December 2019. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
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