At the age of 12, Nayim left his hometown of Ceuta and joined FC Barcelona's youth academyLa Masia, as the first team was managed by Terry Venables, but had very few opportunities over the course of two seasons. He arrived at Tottenham Hotspur in November 1988 originally on loan, signing the following year for £400,000; his first goal for the club came in a 2–0 win at Southampton, and he also found the net in Spurs' 3–0 home success over West Ham United. Nayim made a total of 23 appearances in 1989–90, helping Tottenham to a third-place finish. The League Cup offered him his first experience of English cup competition, playing in four games en route to the quarter-finals and scoring three times. The following season proved to be Nayim's most successful in English football. Although the team finished in only 11th, he appeared in 33 league matches and netted five times; his path to a Wembley final was again halted at the League Cup semi-final but, in the FA Cup, they overcame Nottingham Forest 2–1 in the final, with the player replacing injured Paul Gascoigne early in the game and setting up both goals to bring success to White Hart Lane. Nayim appeared in 31 league contests in 1991–92, adding six appearances in the League Cup campaign, including both legs of the semi-final loss to Nottingham Forest. The following season, he won the Goal of the Month competition for October with a volley against Liverpool; he added a hat-trick in the FA Cup quarter-final at Manchester City, helping his team to a 4–2 win.
Zaragoza
In May 1993, Nayim signed for Real Zaragoza for £500,000. His most notable moment in football came in the final seconds of extra-time in the 1995 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Final by lobbing David Seaman from 45 yards to score a last-minute goal and win it 2–1 against Arsenal; nearly two decades later, he told UEFA's website that the strike was premeditated as his experience in England had taught him that the Gunners played a high defensive line.
Later years
Nayim retired in 2000, after a stint with Spanish Segunda División side CD Logroñés. He took up coaching afterwards, managing Atlético Ceuta and serving as assistant to AD Ceuta; in late 2009, he joined former Zaragoza teammate José Aurelio Gay's coaching staff, being named his assistant manager after Marcelino García Toral's sacking. Nayim returned to his hometown in May 2016, to become sporting director at AD Ceuta FC.
Personal life
Nayim, a Muslim, was the only player of the Islamic faith to compete in the inaugural Premier League season. The eldest of his three children, Youssef, pursued a football career in the same position. In 2006, the Aragonese village of Trasmoz named a street 'Gol de Nayim'.
