Sami Tlemcani
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 21 July 2004 | ||
| Place of birth | Saint-Maurice, France[1] | ||
| Height | 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)[1] | ||
| Position | Goalkeeper | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | AEK Athens B | ||
| Number | 94 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Créteil-Lusitanos | |||
| 2018–2020 | Paris FC | ||
| 2020–2022 | Chelsea | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2022–2023 | Chelsea | 0 | (0) |
| 2022 | → Merstham (loan) | 5 | (0) |
| 2023–2025 | AEK Athens B | 10 | (0) |
| International career | |||
| 2022 | Morocco U20 | 1 | (0) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 15 June 2025 | |||
Sami Tlemcani (Arabic: سامي التلمساني; born 21 July 2004) is a professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Greek Super League 2 club AEK Athens B. Born in France, he represented Morocco at youth international level before committing to represent Algeria in February 2023.
Early life
Born in Saint-Maurice, Val-de-Marne, France to an Algerian father and Moroccan mother, Tlemcani played for Créteil-Lusitanos before joining Paris FC.[2] He spent two years with Paris FC, training with the first team at only 15 years old.[3]
Chelsea
In October 2020, he joined English Premier League side Chelsea.[3][4]
In February 2022, Tlemcani was loaned to Isthmian League side Merstham on a short-term deal.[5][6] He went on to make five appearances in the league.[7]
He extended his deal with Chelsea in August 2022, signing until 2025.[8] On 1 July 2023, Tlemcani departed Chelsea by mutual consent.[9]
AEK Athens
On 27 July 2023, Tlemcani joined Greek Super League 2 club AEK Athens B.[10]
International career
Tlemcani is eligible to represent France through birth, and both Algeria and Morocco through his parents. He was called up to the French under-16 team in November 2019.[11]
Ahead of the 2021 Africa U-17 Cup of Nations, which was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in host country Morocco, Tlemcani pledged his international future to Morocco, stating on his Instagram page that he had decided to represent them instead of Algeria.[12] This choice was strengthened further when, in September 2021, he received a surprise call up to the Morocco senior set up ahead of 2022 World Cup qualification games.[13][14][15]
Despite Tlemcani initially expressing his pride at representing Morocco, his father said in an interview in September 2022 that he had a desire to represent Algeria at international level, but had yet to hear from the Algerian Football Federation.[16][17] He has since gone on to represent Morocco at under-20 level.[18]
In February 2023, Tlemcani chose to represent Algeria.[19]