Adel Taarabt was born in Taza and raised in France, where he was formed at RC Lens before moving to England in January 2007. He spent the bulk of his early career in the Premier League and Championship with Tottenham Hotspur, Queens Park Rangers and Fulham, winning promotion with QPR in 2011, and had a brief spell at AC Milan.

Benfica signed him from Milan in June 2015 on a five-year contract. His first stint was unproductive and he was loaned to Genoa in January 2017. On his return he was placed with the B team, but he was reintegrated into the first team in 2018/19, winning the Primeira Liga title, and under Bruno Lage in 2019/20 he became a regular in a deeper midfield role, adding the 2019 Supertaça.

By 2022/23 Taarabt was outside Roger Schmidt's plans and did not feature. Benfica and the player agreed to terminate his contract at the start of September 2022, ending a seven-year association, and he signed for Al Nasr of Dubai later that month.