Signed on loan from Al-Qadisiyah on deadline day of the 2026 summer window, the Morocco international left-back joins for the season.

Born in the Netherlands to a Moroccan family, El Karouani came through a string of Dutch academies - TGG, Den Bosch, BVV and USV Elinkwijk - before finishing his formation at NEC Nijmegen, where he made his senior debut in August 2019 at eighteen. He became a fixture in the side and helped NEC back into the Eredivisie in 2021 after four years away.

A move to FC Utrecht in 2023 made his reputation: three seasons as a first-choice full-back, repeatedly named in the Eredivisie team of the month, before the Saudi Pro League took him to Al-Qadisiyah in June 2026.

Left-footed and quick over the ground, he is an attacking full-back who overlaps early and delivers from the by-line. He chose Morocco over the country of his birth and made his senior debut in October 2021, in a 3-0 World Cup qualifying win over Guinea-Bissau.