Early career Born in
Somalia, Ibrahim moved to Norway in 1998. He began his football career as a youth in Norway with
Øyer-Tretten before eventually moving to
Lørenskog, where he played for
Fjellhamar. He got his debut for Fjellhamar's senior team in 2006. He transferred to Manchester City effective from 1 July 2007. In the spring of 2008, he was on the winning team in the
FA Youth Cup final, as Manchester City beat
Chelsea 4–2 on aggregate. Ibrahim played as a
midfielder. At the age of 18, his style of play was compared by some at the club to then teammate
Patrick Vieira. Ibrahim made his senior debut starting on 24 January 2010, in the
FA Cup game against
Scunthorpe United. He was on the bench in the 3–1 defeat to
Manchester United in the League Cup semi-final at Old Trafford, as well as the match against
Portsmouth at Eastlands on 31 January. On 21 February 2010, he made his Premier League debut as a substitute for Manchester City in a 0–0 draw against
Liverpool. Ibrahim was rewarded with a new contract on 7 April 2010, which tied him to the club until 2014. Ibrahim made his League Cup debut and first starting appearance at
West Brom on Wednesday, 22 September 2010. On 14 January 2011, it was announced that he would join
Scunthorpe United on loan for one month, this loan period subsequently being extended in mid-February to the end of the season. On 31 July 2011, it was announced that he would join Dutch Eredivisie side
NEC on a season-long loan deal. Ibrahim featured in two cup matches and had eight Eredivisie spells scoring one goal before the loan deal was terminated on 22 March on mutual consent because Ibrahim had trouble with his role on the bench for most of the season. Ibrahim spent the second half of the
2012 season on loan with
Strømsgodset, before he again was on six-month loan to Godset in January 2013. In the
2013 season, Ibrahim played 17 matches for Strømsgodset when the team won the
Tippeligaen, which was his first title as a pro. On 22 January 2014, Ibrahim's was released from his contract at
Manchester City, having resided in the United Kingdom for three and a half years.
Greece On 24 January 2014, Ibrahim announced that he is joining Greek champions club
Olympiacos for the next 3.5 years. Ibrahim made just one appearance for the Greek champions and he immediately joined Superleague club
Ergotelis on loan until the end of the season On the beginning of 2014–15 season he returned to Olympiacos. After being released on a free transfer from Olympiacos, Ibrahim signed a two-year contract with the Greek club
Veria on 24 August 2015. Ibrahim debuted on 29 August 2015 in a 2–0 away win against
Panthrakikos. He was sent off against his former club, Olympiacos on the 31 October 2015.
Back to Norway On 13 January 2016, Ibrahim signed a contract with Norwegian
Tippeligaen club
Viking. His contract lasts for three years, until 31 December 2018. Ibrahim signed with
Vålerenga in March 2017, and left the club again at the end of the 2018 season.
Cyprus He joined Cypriot team
Pafos as a free agent on deadline day, 31 January 2019. On 30 August he was substituted against
AEK Larnaca only 36 minutes into Pafos' second
Cypriot First Division game of the season, due to an injury. He was later ruled out for six to eight months.
Italy On 24 March 2021, he joined Italian third-tier
Serie C club
Bisceglie. ==International career==