Youssef Msakni has completed a free transfer to Esperance Tunis from his spell without a club, returning to the Tunisian giants in a move that reunites the 35-year-old winger with the team where he first rose to prominence. The deal was finalised on 21/11/2025, with the experienced Tunisia international signing a contract running until 30/06/2026.
Msakni arrives as a free agent, with no transfer fee involved despite his current market valuation of €400k. His move also marks a symbolic homecoming, as he began his senior breakthrough at Esperance after joining them from Stade Tunisien in 2008, before leaving for Qatari side Al-Duhail in 2013.
Primarily a left winger who favours his right foot, Msakni adds attacking depth and experience to an Esperance squad competing in Tunisia’s Ligue 1. His last registered club was Al-Arabi SC in Qatar, whom he officially left to become unattached on 01/07/2025, before sealing his return to Tunis. During his long stint in the Gulf, he played for Al-Duhail and Al-Arabi in the Qatar Stars League and also had a loan spell in Europe with Belgian side KAS Eupen.
The Tunis-born attacker, standing at 1.79m, brings a profile shaped by more than a decade at the top level. Market value data over his career shows he once peaked at several million euros during his Al-Duhail years, underlining how highly he was regarded in his prime before a gradual decline with age and changing roles at club level.
His transfer continues a long relationship between Msakni and Esperance. After first joining the club in 2008, he helped them establish domestic dominance before his switch abroad. Now, more than a decade later, Esperance have opted to bring back a vastly more experienced version of the same player, one who has featured in leagues in Tunisia, Qatar and Belgium and represented his country at senior level.
Msakni’s status as a seasoned international and his current valuation of €400k suggest Esperance are adding both leadership and a potentially influential creative outlet on the flank. Having spent recent months without a club, this contract offers him the platform to re-establish himself in a familiar environment, in front of home supporters who watched his early rise.
With the agreement in place from 21/11/2025 to 30/06/2026, Esperance and Msakni now enter a short but potentially significant chapter together. The coming months will determine whether the returning winger can translate his experience at Al-Duhail, Al-Arabi and KAS Eupen back into decisive performances in Ligue 1 and close out his career on a high in Tunis.
