Marouane Fellaini's Life and Career Journey in Football "At Everton, Fellaini became a new idol"

Marouane Fellaini-Bakkioui was born on November 22, 1987 in Brussels, Belgium. Fellaini was born to Hafida and Abdellatif Fellaini. Fellaini's father was a former goalkeeper who worked as a bus driver. That said, Abdellatif was a former goalkeeper for Raja Casablanca and Hassania Agadir who was later offered a contract by Racing Mechelen.

However, he never played for the club after the team he was defending at the time did not allow him to leave. Instead of playing football again, Abdellatif chose to work as a bus driver.

Both of Fellaini's parents are immigrants from Morocco. They moved to Belgium with the aim of getting a better life. In the family, Fellaini is not alone, he has a twin named Mansour Fellaini. In addition, he also has an older brother named Hamza Fellaini.

Even though he is now a football player, Fellaini has not played the sport since he was a child. He was even listed as a running athlete at his school first. Fellaini once participated in a marathon race of 10 thousand meters before finally deciding to join the Anderlecht academy.

During school, Fellaini often went running. He doesn't like being driven by vehicle because running is his hobby.

Little by little, his father who is a former footballer began directing Fellaini to focus more on football. Joining Anderlecht at that time was very useful for Fellaini's change.

In his first season at the Anderlecht academy, Fellaini scored 26 goals. In his second season, he was able to score 37 goals. He was at Anderlecht academy until the age of 10 before finally joining Mons.

At the age of 17, Fellaini signed his first professional contract with Standard Liege. For approximately two seasons there, Fellaini managed to make 84 appearances and scored 11 goals.

Fellaini is known as a tough player. He is good at winning aerial duels and has extraordinary stamina. Because of his prowess, Fellaini earned the claim as the best box-to-box midfielder until he won the Ebony Shoes award, an award that is given to the best African descent player in Belgium.

After starting to have a name in Belgium, Fellaini was hunted by the Premier League club, Everton. It should be noted, at that time, Everton were not the only ones interested in his services. But there are Real Madrid, FC Bayern, to Manchester United. However, Fellaini preferred to anchor at Goodison Park in 2008.

Fellaini became a player who was easily recognized not only because of his stamina and air duels. He is also widely known for having a unique appearance. Football lovers must understand very well if Fellaini is a player with an eccentric hairstyle. He has an afro hairstyle that seems to make his header even more powerful.

Fellaini signed a contract with Everton in September 2008 with a duration of five years. He made his Everton debut in a 3-2 away win at Stoke City on 14 September 2008, and scored his first goal for the team against Newcastle United in a 2-2 draw at home on 5 October 2008.

Totel, Fellaini scored 9 goals in his first season. At the end of the 2008/09 season, Fellaini was named the Best Young Player of the season by Everton.

At Everton, Fellaini became a new idol. He is a player who is often relied on even in critical situations. At that time, Fellaini was once installed as a second striker behind Tim Cahill. This happened because all Everton attackers were injured.

His performances in late 2009 and early 2010 were so impressive that David Moyes dubbed him a versatile player. Moyes' praise continued to pour out into Fellaini after the player was awarded the man of the match several times.

However the 2009/10 season was not very good for Fellaini. He had received a tough tackle from Sotirios Kyrgiakos, which made him miss until the end of the season.

The following season, Fellaini sustained an ankle injury in the FA Cup win against Chelsea in February 2011. However, he was able to play again in the 2-0 win against Sunderland the week after.

Considered an important player, Fellaini then signed a new five-year contract with Everton in November 2011.

Two years later, Fellaini's journey with Everton ended. On 2 September 2013, Fellaini signed a four-year contract, with an option to extend after being recruited by David Moyes, who was then appointed as the new coach of Manchester United.

Fellaini made his debut for the club on September 14, in a 2–0 home win against Crystal Palace as a substitute. He finally made his full debut against Bayer Leverkusen in the European Champions League competition.

However, his journey at MU was not as good as when he was defending Everton. Noted, in April 2014, Fellaini was named one of the "10 Worst Purchases of the Premier League".

However, on 4 June 2014, Fellaini was still selected as part of the 23 Belgian players for the 2014 World Cup.

In the following season with Manchester United, Fellaini came on as a substitute to score a goal for Manchester United in injury time. The goal gave the Red Devils a 2-1 win over Valencia in Louis van Gaal's first game as new manager.

But even though it's not too bad, Fellaini still can't show his best game. He was considered a failed purchase and was touted as a symbol of United's collapse after the Ferguson era.

The 2016/17 season could perhaps be a healing season for Fellaini. The reason is, that season he managed to donate the Europa Cup and Carabao Cup titles. From this moment when United was coached by Mourinho, Fellaini began to receive praise from the Portuguese coach.

He received a contract extension for a year, and in the following season Manchester United tied the player for the next two years.

At that time, Mou was considered to really need Fellaini. Players from Belgium often become saviors when MU is experiencing a need. However, in the 2018/19 season, Mou and Fellaini were forced out of the club. Both of them often become scapegoats until management decided to make changes.

After leaving United, the club was coached by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Meanwhile Fellaini went to China to join Shandong Luneng Taishan.

Fellaini provides a lot of entertainment for football fans. Apart from playing on the field, his face, which was viral as a result of being hit by a ball, has also succeeded worldwide.

Now, the Belgian man still has a contract until 2021 in China. Will he return to Europe or even spend a career in the Bamboo Curtain country?