Mehdi Ben Sadok Nafti

 (Arabic: مهدي النفطي‎; born 28 November 1978 in Toulouse, France) is a Tunisian footballer who plays forReal Valladolid in Spain, as a defensive midfielder.

During his professional career, he played in four different countries in representation of five teams, namely Toulouse, Racing de Santander and Birmingham City.

Nafti made his professional debuts with hometown's Toulouse FC, being sparingly used during his three-year spell with the club, and also playing several games with the reserves. His best season was 1999–2000, as he appeared in 13 games (one goal) to help the team return to Ligue 1 after one year of absence.

In the 2000 summer, Nafti joined Racing de Santander in La Liga and, as in his previous club, started his stint appearing for the B team. In the 2000–01 season, he played in just three games for the main squad, which was eventually relegated, then proceeded to become a very important midfield element for the Cantabrians in the following three seasons, whilst collecting 35 yellow cardsand three red.

Nafti was signed on loan by Birmingham City in the last minutes of the January 2005 transfer window. Often referred to as "Nasty" due to his fiery nature and tendency for cautions, he was primarily signed to replace the outgoing Robbie Savage, and finished the season strongly for the Blues, which led to a permanent deal being agreed in the summer.

Nafti's 2005–06 season came to end before it had even begun, with a severe injury to his cruciate ligaments in a friendly withDeportivo de La Coruña in early August 2005.^[4] He recovered sooner than expected and still appeared in the last matchday, a 0–1 loss at Bolton Wanderers, but Birmingham suffered relegation.

After having appeared in 32 games in 2006–07 to help Birmingham return to the Premier League, Nafti scored his first competitive goal for the club in a 4–0 win against Wycombe Wanderers in August 2008, for the season's League Cup. In June 2009, after Birmingham chose not to renew his contract, he signed a two-year contract with Aris Thessaloniki in Greece.

On 12 September 2009, Nafti scored the only goal of the home match against PAS Giannina F.C. to put Aris top of the Greek League after three matches, and finished his debut season with four goals in 22 games, with the team finally ranking fifth.

During the January 2011 transfer window, 32-year old Nafti left Aris and returned to Spain, signing a 18-month contract withSegunda División club Real Valladolid.

International career

A Tunisian international since 2002, Nafti represented the nation in three Africa Cup of Nations tournaments, helping it win the2004 edition, played on home soil. He then appeared in the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup, playing against Australia (2–0 win) and Germany (0–3 loss).

Nafti was selected for the squad that competed in the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, appearing in all three games as Tunisia exited in the group stage.

My Best goal with my favorite team Αρης Π.Α.Ε