National World Top Stories Update Thursday 4 December, 2025
A former Paris Saint-Germain prospect who could have been playing alongside Desire Doue and Ousmane Dembele appears to have retired at 21 years old.
Ayman Kari seems to have walked away from football after failing to land a new club; he was released by his club at the end of his contract in the summer.
Kari returned to Paris after an 18 month loan at FC Lorient, but his last competitive minutes came on April 24, 2024 in a 4-1 home loss against PSG. When his deal expired this summer, the Ligue 1 club chose not to extend it.
Ayman Kari, left, has apparently retired from football at the age of 21.placeholder image
Ayman Kari, left, has apparently retired from football at the age of 21. | AFP via Getty Images
Once he became a free agent in July, Kari searched for a new team but found no takers. According to French publication A Bola, he has barely been seen in public since leaving PSG.
L’Equipe reported that he is stepping back from the game, although no one knows if the break is permanent.
Speaking to the outlet, an unnamed club employee said: “This series of events seems to have precipitated the player’s decision to end his career. From that moment on, everyone at the club regretted it.
“We understood that it was over.”
Kari entered a PSG system with big expectations; some early scouts claimed he had more natural talent than Joao Neves or Warren Zaire Emery, both of whom are first-team regulars. He logged more than 50 matches for the youth sides but never broke through to the senior team.
During his Lorient loan, he reportedly struggled with dietary limits and inconsistent training, and these problems followed him back to Paris.
Luis Enrique had hoped to give him a real chance, but Kari showed up to pre-season about 10kg overweight. He was sent to train with the academy and later began skipping sessions.
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