Mustapha Hadji - Midfielder Date of Birth: November 16, 1971 Birthplace: Ifrane, Morrocco Nationality: Morrocan Height: 1.82m / 6' Previous Clubs: Coventry City, Deportivo La Coruna (Spain), Sporting Lisboa (Portugal) Joined Villa: July 6, 2001 Acquisition Price: £2 million + Julian Joachim Debut:   Left Villa (for): January 31, 2004 (Espanyol (Spain)) Selling Price: Free transfer

Most Aston Villa fans had already noticed Mustapha Hadji at the 98 World Cup, where his charismatic long hair in a ponytail, his goatee and last but not least his beautiful goals for Morocco raised many an eyebrow.

The next time he was really noticed was when he scored for Coventry in the game that sent Coventry into the first division in the end. Hadji had refused to join Morocco's national team in favour of Coventry, who were battling for relegation.

Right after the reopening of transfers, he was approached by Aston Villa, and he quickly aggreed to put pen to paper, since the prospects of playing in the First Division werenøt that glorious for the midfielder.

The 2001/02 season saw Hadji come on regularly as a substitute, and quite a few glimpses of his great talent when he scored goals for Aston Villa, usually with blistering long drives as seen in Croatia against NK Varteks. However, so far, Mustapha failed to gain a regular starting place.

Things never improved from here, and in January 2004, Hadji was finally released on a free transfer to Espanyol in Spain.