Mourad Meghni (Arabic: ???? ?????) (born 16 April 1984) is an Algerian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder.
He is currently on af free agent.
He can also play as a central midfielder and is known for his excellent technique.
As a young footballer in France, his ability and Algerian heritage earned him the nickname "petit Zidane".
Aged thirteen, Meghni joined the famous academy Le Centre Technique National Fernand Sastre, commonly referred to as Clairefontaine.
He decided to leave the academy at the age of 16 and signed for Cannes, where he only remained for one season and opted to move on to Bologna, for whom he made his professional debut on 20 July 2002, against FC BATE in the Intertoto Cup, coming on as a substitute.
With Bologna, he came runner-up in the 2002 Intertoto Cup losing out to Fulham on aggregate 5β3.
In the summer of 2007, Meghni signed with Lazio on a co-ownership deal for β¬1.75 million, with the club further paying Bologna an additional β¬1.75 million for full ownership, in the summer of 2008.
He won the 2008β09 Coppa Italia, as well as the 2009 Supercoppa Italiana whilst playing for Lazio.
Meghni is a former French youth international and was a part of the team that won the 2001 FIFA U-17 World Championship, held in Trinidad and Tobago.
He opted to play for Algeria at senior level in August 2009, taking advantage of FIFA's new ruling, allowing him to change his national allegiance despite being older than 21 years of age.
He made his debut for Algeria in a 1β0 win on 12 August 2009, against Uruguay.
He went on to play for Algeria at the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations in Angola.