Manchester City‘s Rayan Aït-Nouri can represent Algeria if he offers an apology for his behaviour with the national team during this international break.
The left-back played the full 90 minutes in Manchester City’s EFL Cup win over Norwich City. That was his only start of this season as made one more appearance for the Premier League side.
His limited role at the Etihad didn’t stop Algeria manager Brahim Hemdani from including him in his list for the September and October fixtures.
Saga involving Manchester City man
Last Friday, Hemdani started Brighton & Hove Albion’s Jaouen Hadjam ahead of Rayan Aït-Nouri against Zambia. The former opened the scoring before Zambia netted the equaliser in the 57th minute.
Hemdani initially planned to bring the Manchester City man on before sending him back to the bench after the equaliser. A few minutes later, the Fennecs regained lead, and Aït-Nouri then refused to come on.
At the weekend, Sport Witness relayed news that his behaviour angered his teammates and the coaching staff. The national team then confirmed he left the camp.
On Monday, we covered a report from Algeria explaining that the 25-year-old asked to leave. The national team only accepted his wish at his repeated insistence.
El Khabar blames him for his ‘recklessness’. The dismissal came after a meeting within the national team, also approved by Algeria football association president, Walid Sadi.
Manchester City player slammed
Another Algerian outlet, DZ54, reports the former Wolverhampton Wanderers man was ‘suffering from a complex psychological condition, appeared withdrawn and spoke a little’ when he joined the national team camp.
The incidents against Zambia then followed, which includes Rayan Aït-Nouri appearing visibly frustrated on the bench during the clash. His teammates and Brahim Hemdani tried to calm him down.
Aït-Nouri then left the camp and there’s uncertainty about him representing Algeria again in the future.
He has to formally issue a public apology to Algeria’s coaching staff and fans via the media/social media. This is a ‘non-negotiable condition’ for his return, ‘to restore morale and address the damage his behaviour caused within the team.’
