Ayman Yahya Salem was born on 14 May 2001 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He came through Al-Nassr's youth system, with senior development sharpened by a loan at Al-Ahli, developing in a Saudi football culture that asks national-team players to handle domestic pressure early. His first senior steps shaped him into a midfielder with a clear professional identity before he became part of the wider 2026 World Cup pool.
The middle stretch of his career was built through Saudi Pro League competition. He returned to Al-Nassr with more tactical maturity and had to compete for space in a squad transformed by stars such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Sadio Mané. Those seasons unfolded while the league became more demanding and more visible, forcing local players to prove that they could keep their places alongside high-profile foreign signings and still remain useful to the national team.
As of May 2026 he is with Al-Nassr. He is used as a wide or inside attacking option, usually when the team need a Saudi player who can combine quickly around elite forwards. His current club context matters because Saudi Arabia's squad is heavily domestic, and the rhythm of Al-Hilal, Al-Nassr, Al-Ittihad, Al-Ahli and Al-Qadsiah players directly affects the way the national team can press, defend and attack in tournament football.
For Saudi Arabia he has been involved during the current World Cup cycle. He has appeared for Saudi Arabia in qualifiers and tournaments as a technical left-footed option between midfield and attack. The national side carries a long World Cup thread — 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2018 and 2022 — and the 2026 group is judged against both that heritage and the disappointment of losing to South Korea on penalties in the 2023 AFC Asian Cup round of sixteen.
Standing 1.68 m, he is a left-footed midfielder. He likes to receive on the half-turn, dribble inside and shoot or slip passes into the channel. A fair stylistic comparison is Salem Al-Dawsari and a lighter Riyad Mahrez, used as a reference point rather than a claim of equal status. His value to Saudi Arabia comes from fitting a collective structure: compact defensive distances, quick transitions and enough technical security to survive under pressure.