samuel played as a youth for the london-based junior team senrab and was in the academies of west ham united and charlton athletic before joining aston villa in 1998. he made a total of 198 appearances for villa before moving to fellow premier league club bolton wanderers in 2007, where he spent a further four years including a brief spell on loan at cardiff city in the championship. samuel spent the last four years of his professional career in the iran pro league, representing esteghlal and paykan. he won a hazfi cup and a league title with esteghlal.