Marouane Fellaini is a professional footballer from Belgium who is widely known and easy to identify thanks to his symbolic Afro.
The 1.82m tall athlete, who once hoped to become a long-distance runner, currently plays for Manchester United in the English Premier League, and although he has strong Moroccan ties through both his parents, he chose instead to represent Belgium on the international stage.
Read on to find out more about his early beginnings, his football career, his identical twin brother, and his love life.
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Marouane Fellaini Biography
Fellaini was born as Marouane Fellaini-Bakkioui in Etterbeek, Brussels, Belgium on 22 November 1987 as the daughter of Abdellatif and Hafida Fellaini. His father, Abdellatif, was a former goalkeeper who played for the Moroccan clubs’ Raja Casablanca and Hassania d’Agadir before becoming a bus driver after emigrating to Belgium with his wife in search of a better life. He is currently working as an agent for his son and can be seen at his games.
Growing up, Fellaini excelled in both athletics and football. It is reported that because of his abilities, he usually chose to walk to school rather than take the bus like his peers. When he was eight years old, he entered the Anderlecht Academy, where he played as a striker.
In 1997, at the age of 10, Fellaini left Anderlecht to go to Mons because his father had found a new job in that town. He spent three years in Mons before moving again to R. Francs Borains, where he spent two years. Between 2002 and 2004, Fellaini played for Sporting Charleroi before signing his first professional contract with Standard Liège, after having played for two years in the youth department of Standard Liège. At the age of 17, Fellaini was celebrated as the next big thing outside Belgium. He was now playing as a box-to-box midfielder who, thanks to his size, had excellent stamina and header strength.
In 2008, he won the Ebony Shoe, an award that is given annually in Belgium to the best African or African-born players in the Belgian professional league. In the same year, Marouane Fellaini chose Everton for a record fee of around £15 million due to the reported interest of clubs such as Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.
Fellaini was money well spent for the Merseyside club when it was fully operational. In his debut season under coach David Moyes, he scored 9 goals from midfield and was named Everton’s Young Player of the Year. Over a six-year period, he played a total of 177 games for Everton before joining Moyes, who was hand-picked to replace Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United.
United paid Everton £27.5 million for Fellaini’s services, but the Belgian midfielder has yet to live up to United’s expectations. He has only made 15 starts this season and has generally been criticized by fans who did not like Moyes’ management style.
Since then, Marouane Fellaini has never really won back the hearts of Manchester United fans, although she has played for three different managers at the club.
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Marouane Fellaini Brother
Marouane Fellaini has two brothers; Hamza, his older brother, and an identical twin brother named Mansour. All three Fellaini boys have a famous Afro, but Mansour and Marouane wear it best.
Wife or Girlfriend, Is Fellaini Married?
Marouane Fellaini is married to a number of women, most notably former Miss Belgium candidate Lara Binet and then Jeffers Roxanne, the ex-girlfriend of his professional football colleague Ashley Cole.
Binet, who was crowned Miss Liège in 2011 before becoming a finalist in the Miss Belgium Beauty Contest, started dating Fellaini while playing for Standard Liège. The two are said to have been inseparable throughout their relationship, with some reports speculating that the couple exchanged vows. However, the couple split up amicably in 2012 after joining Manchester United.
During his time at United, he was particularly involved with Ms. Roxanne, who met the football star through a mutual friend. It was said that she liked him because of his trademark Afro.
Height, Weight, Zodiac Sign, and Other Facts
Birth Name: Marouane Fellaini-Bakkioui
Nickname: Giraffro
Date of Birth: 22 November 1987
Place of Birth: Etterbeek, Brussels, Belgium
Height: 6 feet 4 inches (194 cm)
Weight: 85 kg (187 lbs)
Shoe Size: 12 US
Zodiac Sign: Sagittarius
