However, he was immediately loaned back to his previous club and was a part of the Lille team which won the league and cup double.

Despite constant early inquiries from Morocco prior to his first selection, Rami chose to play for his home country of France.

[5] While training to become a professional football player, Rami worked for the city after his family grew concerned for his future.

He initially played as an offensive player often in the midfield, but following an injury to a teammate, whom Rami described as his best friend, his coaches inserted him into defence.

In the 2007–08 season, Rami was declared a starter by Puel and inserted at centre-back, alongside captain Grégory Tafforeau.

[19] The victory secured fifth place for Lille, which resulted in the club qualifying for the newly created UEFA Europa League.

Despite suitable offers for the player, Lille chairman Michel Seydoux declared that Rami was not going to be leaving the club after a reported move to Marseille for €12 million was abruptly canceled in July 2009.

[20] The announcement led to a distraught and angry Rami declaring he would see out the rest of his contract with Lille playing in the reserves if he was not transferred.

With Lille trailing 1–0 in injury time at a hostile Stade Félix-Bollaert, Rami connected on a header following a corner kick in the 93rd minute to draw the match at 1–1, which was the final result.

[25][26] On 25 February 2010, Rami scored the aggregate-winning goal in the team's round of 32-second leg tie away to Fenerbahçe after connecting on a header five minutes from time.

[28][29] Rami finished the 2010–11 campaign with Lille on loan from Valencia and officially joined his parent club on 13 June after successfully passing a medical.

[35][36] On 6 January 2014, Rami made his debut in Serie A, coming on as a substitute for Cristián Zapata in a match against Atalanta, a 3–0 win.

[40] On 1 July 2015, Spanish newspaper Marca confirmed that Sevilla had reached an agreement with Milan to sign Rami for four seasons, with the transfer fee believed to be €3.5 million.

[41] On 13 July 2017, Rami joined Ligue 1 club Olympique de Marseille on a four-year contract for a €6 million transfer fee.

[42] On 27 July, he made his competitive debut for Marseille, in their 2017–18 UEFA Europa League third qualifying round, first leg match against Oostende at the Stade Vélodrome, playing the full 90 minutes of the 4–2 victory.

[43] On 3 May 2018, he played every minute of the Europa League semi-final second leg match away to FC Red Bull Salzburg which Marseille lost 2–1 after extra-time but won 3–2 on aggregate to secure a place in the 2018 UEFA Europa League Final[44] which was played at the Parc Olympique Lyonnais in Décines-Charpieu, Lyon, France on 16 May 2018,[45] against Atlético Madrid.

[47] Rami was left out of Marseille's pre-season tour to the United States in the summer of 2019 and left out of the squad for the club's opening competitive match of the 2019–20 season on 10 August 2019 under newly appointed head coach André Villas-Boas, a 2–0 Ligue 1 home defeat to Stade de Reims.

But on the same day as the missed training session, Rami took part in the recording of an episode of the French TV game show Fort Boyard where contestants compete in a set of challenges to win prize money, including participation in a variation of mud wrestling and performing demanding physical stunts.

[50][51] On 21 February 2020, by mutual agreement with the club, he terminated his contract with Fenerbahçe[52] and joined the Russian team PFC Sochi on the same day.

[54] After terminating his contract with Sochi, Rami went to Portugal's top flight by joining Boavista on a two-year deal on 4 September 2020 meeting his friend Ricardo Costa.

Ahead of the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations, Rami was offered a chance to play with Morocco at the competition by manager Henri Michel.

[9] On 20 March 2008, Rami received his first call-up to the France national team by then head coach Raymond Domenech for a friendly match against England.

[59] For the third time, Rami declined the opportunity and later accepted his call-up to the France squad for its FIFA World Cup qualification matches against Lithuania.

[61] Rami made his debut in the finals of a World Cup or UEFA European Championship on 11 June in his team's Euro 2012 opening match against England.

[69] In 2017, he began dating actress Pamela Anderson and as of November 2018, the two were living together in a mansion in Cassis, near Marseille, in the French Riviera.