Sofiane Hanni (; born 29 December 1990) is a professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder. Born in France, he plays for the Algeria national team.
After starting out at Nantes in France, he went on to compete professionally in Turkey, Belgium and Russia. Hanni is an Algeria international, gaining his first cap for the full side in June 2016, aged 25, in an Africa Cup of Nations qualification match against Seychelles. Hanni played in a different types of the midfield position, mostly attacking.
Club career Nantes Born in Ivry-sur-Seine, France, Hanni started out his career at Ivry, where his father was coaching when he first joined, and Boulogne-Billancourt before joining FC Nantes in 2005. When he turned eighteen, Hanni signed his first professional contract with FC Nantes.
In the last game of the 2008–09 season against Auxerre, Hanni was called up to the first team for the first team by Manager Élie Baup, appearing as an unused substitute. Hanni made his professional debut on 1 December 2009 in a league match against Sedan, making his only appearance in the 2009–10 season.
On 11 June 2010, Hanni was slated to sign a one-year contract with hometown club Paris Saint-Germain. However, a week later, it was announced that he would not be joining the club due to a disagreement between the club and the player's father. It wasn't until on 12 February 2011 when he made his first appearance of the 2010–11 season, coming on as a late substitute, in a 1–0 loss against Vannes OC. Hanni made his first starts for FC Nantes, playing 71 minutes before being substituted, in a 0–0 draw against Châteauroux. At the end of the 2010–11 season, Hanni went on to make three appearances for the side. Following this, Hanni was not offered a new contract by FC Nantes, which disappointed him, as he was expected to succeed at the club and experienced this as a failure. Despite this, he was asked about the memories at FC Nantes and responded: "Good. It was there that I got to know the world and the demands of the professional world."
Kayseri Erciyesspor After leaving FC Nantes, Hanni revealed that his agent offered him a move to Turkey, but he wasn't interested. However, Hanni ultimately give in to a trial at after there was no offers in his homeland, France, and went on a trial at second Turkish club division side Kayseri Erciyesspor. He quickly impressed the side at the trial, resulting in him signing for the club.
Hanni made his Kayseri Erciyesspor debut, starting the whole game, in a 1–1 draw against Bucaspor on 10 September 2011 in the opening game of the season. It wasn't until on 25 September 2011 when he scored his first goal for Kayseri Erciyesspor, in a 2–1 win against Kartalspor. Seven days later on 2 October 2011, Hanni scored his second goal for the club, in a 1–0 win against Karşıyaka. In a follow–up match against Çaykur Rizespor on 15 October 2011, he set up two goals for Gökhan Kaba, who scored twice, in a 4–0 win. He later added two more goals for the side later in the year. Hanni then went three months without scoring; this lasted until 4 March 2012 when he scored in a 2–0 win against İstanbul Güngörenspor. He then went on a goal scoring spree between 1 April 2012 and 14 April 2012, including scoring twice against Göztepe. Hanni scored his tenth goal of the season, as well as, setting up the club's second goal of the game, in a 2–0 win against Sakaryaspor on 5 May 2012. Having established himself in the first team regular for the side, playing in the attacking midfield position, Hanni finished his first season at Kayseri Erciyesspor, making thirty–two appearances and scoring ten times in all competitions.
In the 2012–13 season, Hanni continued to retain his place in the first team, playing in the attacking midfield position. Hanni scored his first goals for the club, in a 2–0 against Göztepe on 14 October 2012. Throughout the 2012–13 season, he began to play a role for the side when he assisted goals that saw him assisted sixteen times. Hanni set up five goals in three matches between 11 November 2012 and 24 November 2012, including twice against Kartalspor. He also set up two goals in two separate matches earlier in the season. It wasn't until in the last game of the season against Şanlıurfaspor when he scored twice once again, in a 3–1 win. As a result, Kayseri Erciyesspor were TFF First League champions after finishing first place in the league, resulting in their promotion to Süper Lig. At the end of the 2012–13 season, Hanni went on to make thirty–four appearances and scoring four times in all competitions.
Ankaraspor Over the summer transfer window, Hanni was linked a move away from Kayseri Erciyesspor, with several Turkish clubs, including Balıkesirspor, interested in signing him. It was announced on 7 September 2013 that Hanni joined the second Turkish division side, Ankaraspor A.Ş., signing a four–year contract.
Hanni made his Ankaraspor debut, coming on as a first half substitute, in a 0–0 draw against Tavşanlı Linyitspor on 14 September 2013. In a follow–up match against Fethiyespor, he scored his first goal for the club, in a 2–1 win. It wasn't until on 2 December 2013 when Hanni scored a brace, as well as, setting the other two goals, in a 4–0 win against Şanlıurfaspor. A month later, he scored his fourth goal, in a 1–0 win against Manisaspor, followed up by scoring again, as well as, setting up the club's first goal of the game, in a 2–0 win against Kahramanmaraşspor. Hanni then set up two goals in three separate matches, starting against Adana Demirspor on 19 February 2014, then against Gaziantep on 2 March 2014 and against Mersin İdman Yurdu on 20 April 2014. He also scored two more goals later in the 2013–14 season. At the end of the 2013–14 season, Hanni finished his first season at Ankaraspor, making thirty–four appearances and scoring eight times in all competitions.
KV Mechelen After three years in Turkey, Hanni moved to Belgium, where he joined KV Mechelen on a free transfer, signing a three–year contract in May 2014. He cited a move to Belgium over family reasons and staying closer to Paris.
Hanni scored on his debut for KV Mechelen, as well as, setting the club's third goal of the game, in a 3–1 win against Genk in the opening game of the season. Since joining the club, he quickly became a first team regular for the side, playing in the attacking midfield position and spoke out about his development, stating his statistics needs improving. It wasn't until on 13 September 2014 when Hanni scored the club's third goal of the game against Westerlo, as well as, setting up the club's fifth goal for Mats Rits, who scored twice during the game, in a 5–2 win. Hanni started in every match since the start of the season until he was dropped to the substitute bench unused, in a 2–2 draw against Charleroi on 7 February 2015. But Hanni was able to return to the starting line-up against Anderlecht on 15 February 2015 and made an impressive display before being substituted in the late minutes, in a 1–1 draw. He spent three months without scoring a goal and this ended, scoring in the two matches between 22 February 2015 and 28 February 2015 against Lierse and Zulte Waregem. In the league's Group Stage playoffs for the UEFA Europa League spot, Hanni played an important role to help the side finish at the top by scoring four goals, including a brace against Zulte Waregem on 2 May 2015. Hanni then played in both legs of the league's playoffs for the UEFA Europa League spot against Lokeren; scoring in the second leg, in a 2–1 win, as KV Mechelen went on to win 4–3 on aggregate. However against Charleroi in the league's Testmatches for the UEFA Europa League spot, Hanni played in both legs, as he failed to overcome the deficit following KV Mechelen's 3–2 loss on aggregate. In his first season at KV Mechelen, he went on to make forty–three appearances and scoring ten times in all competitions.
Ahead of the 2015–16 season, Hanni was linked a move away from KV Mechelen, with Bundesliga side Werder Bremen was interested in signing him, but nothing came of it. At the start of the 2015–16 season, he continued to regain his first team place in his second season at the club and became the offensive leader of the club and form a good duo with Tim Matthys, but started off with a discreet beginning of season, not finding the net. It wasn't until on 17 October 2015 when Hanni scored his first goal of the season against Sint-Truidense, in the 11th round of Jupiler League, as well as, being involved in the other two goals, which were scored by Milos Kosanovic and Tim Matthys, in a 3–0 win; after the match, he was named the best player of the day by the press. In a follow up match against Zulte Waregem in the 12th round of Jupiler League, he scored twice, including scoring the club's second goal of the game from a direct free kick, as KV Mechelen lost 4–3 in a dramatic confrontation. Then a week later on 31 October 2015, Hanni scored his fourth goal of the season against Waasland-Beveren on behalf of 14th round of Jupiler League, as well as, setting up the club's second goal of the game, in a 2–0 win, which moved the club to the 11th place in the standings with 15 points. His fifth goal of the season came on 22 November 2015 against Oostende in the 16th round of Jupiler League, scoring the opening goal of the game, as KV Mechelen won 2–1. On 5 December 2015 against Royal Excel Mouscron, he contributes again, scoring from a header in a 3–2 win. A week later on 12 December 2015 against Lokeren, Hanni scored again, scoring in mark at the 8th minute with a superb strike from 30 meters, as the match ended in a 1–1 draw. He then scored in the next three matches. His performance at KV Mechelen attracted interests from clubs in Russia and China, but Hanni remained at the club for the rest of the 2015–16 season. Shortly after, Hanni scored the next two goals in two matches on 14 February 2016 and 21 February 2016, scoring against Sint-Truidense and Zulte Waregem. In the 30th round of the Jupiler League, he scored and set up two goals for Nicolas Verdier, in a 4–0 against Standard Liège. In the league's Group Stage playoffs for the UEFA Europa League spot, Hanni scored three goals during the stage, including a brace against Charleroi on 16 April 2016, resulting in a 3–2 loss. Following its full and regular season, in what proved to be his breakthrough season, he ended the season, making thirty–eight appearances, scoring seventeen goals and providing seven assists in all competitions.
Following this, Hanni won the Belgian Lion (Best Arab Player of Belgian football championship) on 2 May 2016 and seven days later on 9 May 2016, he succeeded Neeskens Kebano, winning the Ebony Boot in 2016 which rewards the best African player of African origin or the Belgian championship. It is the first Algerian football player to win this trophy. Hanni reflected the 2015–16 season, calling it "his best season at the professional level". In addition, he was named Belgian Footballer of the Year 2015–16, attracting the attention of Ànderlecht.
Anderlecht
On 20 May 2016, Anderlecht announced the signing of Hanni from Mechelen for a fee of €3 million on a four-year contract, which newspaper Het Nieuwsblad describe the move as "the most lucrative transfer ever for KV Mechelen."