Abdi arrived from Norwegian club Fjellhamar, Oslo, in 2007 at the age of 15. A combative box-to-box midfielder, he has already been compared to team-mate Patrick Vieira, and has continued developing alongside Vieira, Gareth Barry, Nigel de Jong and Stephen Ireland at Carrington. 

Tall and athletic, he was a key member of the FA Youth Cup squad that made the semi-finals in 2009. Briefly featuring for the reserves in between, he made the first-team bench for the League Cup semi-final at Old Trafford and the Premier League match at home to Portsmouth in 2010.

He made his first-team debut in the FA Cup fifth round at Scunthorpe on 24th January the week before, alongside fellow graduates Dedryck Boyata and Greg Cunningham. Solid in midfield for the full 90 minutes, he was part of the same trio that were singled out for special praise afterwards by boss Roberto Mancini, who clearly believes that if you're good enough, you're old enough.

Abdi was rewarded for his successful season when he signed a new four-year contract in April, 2010. 

The youth international has represented Norway at every age group from Under 15 to Under 19, pledging his national allegiance to the country he moved to at the age of seven. One of six Norwegians here at Manchester City, he lives here his family, which counts elder brother Abdirashid, of FC United, amongst its number.