Lazio Player

Mourad Meghni (Arabic: مراد مغني‎) (born April 16, 1984) in Paris, France, is a French football player of Algerian and Portuguese origin who is currently playing for S.S. Lazio in Italy's Serie A.

Meghni is a player with excellent technique, and is right-footed. In France, as a young footballer, his ability earnt him the nickname "petit Zidane".

Along with Florent Sinama-Pongolle and Anthony Le Tallec he helped inspire the French Under 17 team to victory in the 2001 FIFA U-17 World Championship held in Trinidad & Tobago.

Career

As a youth player, Meghni moved from the renowned Clairefontaine academy to Bologna, where he played from the 2000-01 season to the 2004-05 season. He made his Serie A debut on January 12, 2003 in a 2-0 loss at home to Milan. Meghni then spent the 2005-06 season on loan to French Ligue 1 side Sochaux, before returning to Bologna.

While at Bologna, Meghni was never able to turn his talent into success and consistency, and as such was never a favourite among the fans. He made a statement following Bologna's relegation to Serie B, in which he declared he would never play in what he considered to be a sub-standard competition. He did spend a year in B, his last at the club, where he was a regular for the entire season, yet only found the net twice.

In the 2007-08 season, Meghni joined Lazio on a co-ownership deal for a fee of approximately 2.5 million euro.

His early performances for the Biancocelesti were not impressive, and he failed to nail down a regular place in the lineup, only starting seven matches for the season. He did make his debut in the UEFA Champions League, setting up a crucial goal for Tommaso Rocchi, which gave the club their only win in the competiton, at home to Werder Bremen.

At the end of the season, Meghni was fully bought by Lazio from Bologna, as part of the deal taking Gaby Mudingayi to the newly promoted team.

External links

Goal.com profile