Aston Villa signing Karim El Ahmadi is delighted to be the latest Moroccan to be playing in the Premier League.
El Ahmadi was born in Holland and played for the Dutch national team in several age-groups before opting to be a full international for his parents' native country.
He told the Sunday Mercury: "When I was younger my parents took me back to Morocco every year because their family were living there. The Premier League is very big in Morocco.
"When Chamakh signed for Arsenal and Taarabt at Queens Park Rangers they were the two guys everyone was looking up to because when you play in the Premier League it is, for them, the highest league in the world."