Mohamed Ihattaren has recently been accompanied by Mo Nouri, the older brother of former Ajax player Abdelhak Nouri. In conversation with The Telegraph let the duo know they will work to get Ihattaren back to the top. “I see him as family, a bonus brother. Since I live with him a few days a week and thanks to the faith, I have my life back on track,” says the twenty-year-old Ajax player.
“We’ve actually known each other for a long time,” says Nouri. “Mo often came to visit together with his brother Appie to look. We’ve been seeing each other more often lately. And because I also heard from the media that his football career was not going well, I wanted to help him. Not forced, but in a natural way, because our family – due to the cardiac arrest and the serious and permanent brain damage of Abdelhak – also experienced a lot of suffering. Mo and I have a lot in common and because his sweet nature matches ours, he has become like a son in our family.”
Ihattaren is delighted with the new opportunity and is determined to give his career a major boost. “I wish I had had close contact with Mo (Nouri, ed.) earlier. In the Moroccan community you cannot say everything to your mother, brothers and sisters purely out of respect. I didn’t want to come into my mother’s house crying every day when I was struggling with myself again. But with Mo and the rest of the Nouri family, I feel completely free to discuss all my problems. And if you do that, you can solve them,” says the Ajax player candidly.
“People who didn’t want the best for me harassed me,” continues Ihattaren. “But the past is something that I have left far behind. That was also a condition of Mo: full steam ahead and only positivism. Real friends will tell you when things aren’t going well and want you to train hard instead of stepping. My days now consist only of training, eating and going to the Nouri family. Of course I also love my brothers, sisters and my mother very much. But I missed my father’s love and clarity. And now I have Mo.”
“Not a day has gone by that we haven’t seen each other. It’s always fun with him, with Appie and with the rest of the family. In the evenings we talk, play cards and laugh with many lovely people around us. The TV is often not even on. But Mo also provides structure. He’s chasing me like a pit bull, demanding that I keep to my agreements, train hard twice a day at Veel Beter Fysio in Almere, watch my diet and cut ties with the people who don’t want the best for me. On Kanaleneiland in Utrecht, where I grew up, I did not realize that the border with crime is very thin. Now I have to make sure I stay on top. And I will succeed. I will never disappoint anyone who works with me,” concludes Ihattaren, who has also started a process with Wesley Sneijder.