Ramadan Sobhi Ramadan Ahmed (; born 23 January 1997) is an Egyptian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Egyptian Premier League club Pyramids FC.
Sobhi began his career with the leading Egyptian club Ahly SC of Cairo, making his professional debut in February 2014. He established himself in the first team at the Cairo International Stadium and helped Al Ahly to win the Egyptian Premier League title in the 2013–14 and 2015–16 campaigns. His performances attracted the attention of European clubs, and in July 2016, he joined English side Stoke City for a fee of £5 million. He spent two seasons with Stoke before joining Huddersfield Town in June 2018. He failed to establish himself at Huddersfield and returned on loan to Al Ahly in January 2019. In September 2020, Sobhi moved to Pyramids FC.
Club career
Al Ahly
After progressing through the youth ranks at
Cairo club Al Ahly, Sobhi made his professional debut at the age of 17 on 6 February 2014, in a 2013–14 Egyptian Premier League match against Ghazl El Mahalla under the management of Mohamed Youssef.
In April 2014 he took part in the Sheikh Zayed friendly tournament in the
UAE with Al Ahly-U17s, and attracted the attentions of Spanish club Atlético Madrid.
On 16 June 2014, he scored his first goal for Al Ahly in a 3–0 win over Misr Lel-Makkasa.
On 28 June 2014 he started the decisive championship play-off match against
Cairo derby,
Zamalek SC and helped his team to a 1–0 victory.
On 2 July he scored twice against
Petrojet FC to secure a 4–0 win and Al Ahly went on to claim the league title.
In March 2015, Sobhi signed a long-term contract with Al Ahly.
Sobhi helped Al Ahly win the 2014 Egyptian Super Cup against Zamalek.
Sobhi caused controversy in the 2015 Egyptian Super Cup against Zamalek as he repeated his stand on the ball trick, which enraged the Zamalek players.
Stoke City
Sobhi signed for
Premier League club Stoke City on 25 July 2016 for a fee of £5 million.
He made his Premier League debut for Stoke on 20 August 2016 against Manchester City.
He made his first assist for Stoke on 31 October 2016 in a 3–1 win against Swansea City as his cross was deflected in by
Alfie Mawson for an
own goal.
He made his first Premier League start in the next match against West Ham United, becoming the first teenager to start a league game for Stoke in nine years.
After returning from the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations, Sobhi impressed in home wins over Crystal Palace and Middlesbrough.
Sobhi played 19 times in 2016–17, as Stoke finished in 13th position.
Before the start of the 2017–18 season, Sobhi signed a new five-year contract with the Potters.
Huddersfield Town
Sobhi joined Huddersfield Town on 12 June 2018, signing a three-year deal for a fee of £5.7 million.
He struggled to impress David Wagner and only made four appearances for the Terriers before returning in Egyptian football in January 2019.
Return to Egypt
On 28 December 2018, Sobhi came back to his old club Al Ahly as a loan from Huddersfield for six months for a fee of £800,000.
He extended his loan with Al Ahly for the 2019–20 season.
Sobhi made a move to the newly founded Pyramids FC on 7 September 2020.
International career
Sobhi made his national team debut against Tanzania on 14 June 2015 in the first round of 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier at the age of 17 years, 11 months and 18 days, to become the second youngest player to ever play for the Egyptian national team after Mido. On 29 March, he scored his first international goal at the top level in a 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualification game against Nigeria.
In January Sobhi was selected by Héctor Cúper in the Egyptian squad that competed in the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations. Sobhi was mainly used as a substitute in the competition, featuring in four games out of the six as Egypt lost in the final to Cameroon.
In May 2018 he was named in Egypt's preliminary squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.
In November 2019, he was the captain of the Egypt national under-23 football team in 2019 Africa U-23 Cup of Nations hosted by Egypt.
Style of play
Sobhi is mostly used upfront on either wing. However, he also can be used as an attacking midfielder or a secondary striker.
His style of play combines dribbling, clinical passing, vision.
Personal life
Speaking in February 2016, Sobhi stated that he supports Spanish side Real Madrid.
He is married to Habiba Ekramy, sister of
Pyramids FC teammate and national teammate
Sherif Ekramy,
and daughter of Ahly Legend
Ekramy El-Shahat.
Controversy
In March 2024, it was reported that Sobhi tested positive for doping for samples taken in August 2023.
Career statistics
Club
|
|
|
| Al Ahly | 2013–14 | Egyptian Premier League | 3 |
2014–15 | Egyptian Premier League | 8 |
2015–16 | Egyptian Premier League | 6 |
|
| Stoke City | 2016–17 | Premier League | 0 |
2017–18 | Premier League | 3 |
|
| Huddersfield Town | 2018–19 | Premier League | 0 |
| Al Ahly (loan) | 2018–19 | Egyptian Premier League | 2 |
2019–20 | Egyptian Premier League | 5 |
|
| Pyramids FC | 2020–21 | Egyptian Premier League | 12 |
2021–22 | Egyptian Premier League | 8 |
2022–23 | Egyptian Premier League | 7 |
2023–24 | Egyptian Premier League | 1 |
|
|
International
International goals
Egypt score listed first, score column indicates score after each Sobhi goal.''
Honours
Al Ahly
-
Egyptian Premier League: 2013–14, 2015–16, 2018–19, 2019–20
-
Egyptian Super Cup: 2014, 2015, 2018
-
CAF Champions League: 2019–20
-
CAF Confederation Cup: 2014
Pyramids
Egypt U23
-
Africa U-23 Cup of Nations: 2019
Individual
-
Africa U-23 Cup of Nations final Man of the Match: 2019
-
Africa U-23 Cup of Nations Best Player: 2019
-
Africa U-23 Cup of Nations Team of the tournament: 2019
External links
