Zidane Iqbal is the Manchester-born-and-bred footballer who started out at Manchester United before moving to play first-team football for FC Utrecht in the Netherlands in 2023. Before that, he became the first British-born South Asian to play for United and in the Uefa Champions League.
An Iraqi international with 17 caps so far and ambitions to play at the 2026 World Cup, the 22-year-old is the son of a cricket-mad Pakistani father who arrived in Manchester aged seven, and an Iraqi mother who left her homeland during the first Gulf War for a new life in England. The National caught up with the midfielder ahead of the new football season.
Q: How is life in the Netherlands?
A: Good. At the start, in 2023, I was injured and homesick, but I’ve got over that period. Last season was a big learning curve. I’m injured now, but I hope to be back on the pitch soon and playing because I've got a taste of what it's like to be starting week in, week out and being key for the team.
I became a starter for Utrecht, a team who were third and fourth in the Eredivisie for most of the season – a good season for us. That happened after we lost 5-2 to PSV. I didn’t play in that one, but the gaffer [head coach Ron Jans] told me I was starting for the next match – away to Ajax. And from that game until I got injured in mid-April, I started.
Q: Were you not daunted starting at Ajax away in front of 56,000 fans?
No, I just told myself to enjoy it because if I didn’t do well, then I’d be back on the bench like in the last game. I went into it with no emotions, only to enjoy and express myself. I had that mentality. The crowd was loud, but after five minutes it just faded into the background.
Ajax are Ajax, a strong team with top players. We played well defensively and on the counterattack, did the basics right, got the ball and I played well. The gaffer was pleased; we drew 2-2. We should’ve won, but after that game, it was just upwards for me. I got the run of games I’d wanted and needed since arriving the year before and I was buzzing. That was the reason why I went to Utrecht: to make my own opportunities and show that I could handle first-team football in a top league. I can. So when you ask me how life is now, that’s why I say it’s good.
Q: And does that compare that with how you felt when you said goodbye to your family in Manchester to move to a new country?
A: I knew I was signing for Utrecht and told my family and friends, but it didn’t really hit me until the day I was supposed to fly. I woke up, my bags were packed and I gave my mum a hug. I could feel my tears and my bottom lip going. Then my brother gave me a hug and I just folded.
I got to Utrecht and lived in a hotel. I trained the first week but my knee just wasn’t right. It took three months to get it sorted. In that first year I was in and out of the team and didn’t get match fitness due to not having a run of games. It was scary and lonely at times. I came to Holland to play football and couldn’t do it, so I was in my own head quite often. It was hard, but my family visited, my mum and dad especially, my brother had exams but he’s finished now, so he's going to come see me quite often. Friends too. Over time, you just learn how to handle it.
After moving around a lot of areas, I’m settled into the place I’m currently living in. I’ve got friends here now, I know where to go, have brunch, get a coffee, so I’m settled. I’d only ever lived at home in Whalley Range, Manchester, in the same house that has been our family home since I was a kid. It’s where I go back to now.
Q: And Manchester is where you were picked up, by United.
A: Yes, at the age of four. I signed when I was eight, but I was at the development centres at four.
I don’t understand how people can spot somebody that young, but I was at Sale United and there was a programme called Gimme 5s for under 5s. The man who scouted me was Jack Fallows. My dad and I are still in contact with him.
The route is through development centres and if they like you, you move to The Cliff training ground, and then to Carrington. I was in the same age group as Charlie Savage, Will Fish and Shola Shoretire played up a year with us. A lot of players left and when we got to 16 or 17, new ones arrived: Alejandro Garnacho, Alvaro Fernandez and Hannibal Mejbri.
When they arrived you read about them and see that they’ve joined from Atletico Madrid or Monaco, but you yourself are at Man United and want to show what you can do. You don’t want to hide and be like ‘Oh, they've signed new players; they must be better than me’.
I had a dream to be a professional footballer. My dad’s heritage is from Pakistan; he’ll play football but I’d say he enjoys cricket more and still plays. I can play cricket but it was football for me and I had the belief I was going to make it. School was important. I got good GCSEs, a mixture of 7s and 6s. Not amazing but enough if I wanted to do A Levels. But I wanted to be a footballer and that’s what happened, but even now I don’t think I’ve made it. This is just the start. I hope I can show more.
Q: How did you progress at United?
A: My first training session with the first team was under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, but when Erik ten Hag came in he moved several of us Under-23 lads to the first team for the pre-season tour to Thailand and Australia.
Suddenly I was training with top-class players including Cristiano [Ronaldo], Bruno [Fernandes], Rafa Varane, Eric Bailly, Luke Shaw, Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford. You go from watching them on TV and then you’re only one team under them. All you can do is enjoy yourself, work hard. I tried to take in every moment on the tour. I was 19 and if I went back to the Under-23s, that wouldn’t have been the end of the world. But I stayed in the first team set-up.
Marcus Rashford was a Manchester lad like me, and for all the academy boys, I think, look up at him because you can relate because he’s come from the academy, he’s from Manchester. He played for Fletcher Moss, a five-minute drive from where I live. But then I was playing alongside him against Liverpool in front of 70,000.
Q: How was that?
A: Surreal. The main difference was physical. I’ve always been a slight lad. But because I’ve always been skinny, you always know how to use your body. You’re not going to out-muscle someone big like Scott [McTominay] so you must be two steps ahead to get the ball. It’s not UFC, they can’t manhandle you, so that’s fine.
I came on in the second half v Liverpool, which was when Liverpool brought on some of their best players like Jordan Henderson, Mo Salah and [Virgil] Van Dijk. I was excited and a bit nervous because I was thinking ‘these guys are like Premier League proven’. I was up against Fabinho, Thiago and [Naby] Keita and I thought ‘well, if they’re better than you it’s expected’. I had the attitude to enjoy it. What’s the worst that’s going to happen when you’re 19? I think I did well in that game.
Salah asked how I was in Arabic. I speak some. And Punjabi. He gave me his shirt at the end. Great player. But I also really liked Tiago and have modelled my game on his, but I couldn’t get his shirt. He’d gone.
I prayed after that game. I try and pray five times per day. I’ve grown up to be honest and my parents always told me to work hard and leave the rest to God.
Q: And all the time were you thinking about what your United future held?
A: I came home [from the tour of Thailand and Australia] and thought I showed myself and I showed my level. I know I’d done well when my dad’s happy with me. I also came on in a game against Rayo Vallecano at Old Trafford and did well.
Darren Fletcher messaged me to say I was going up to the first team dressing room and for the first few games of the season I was on the bench. I thought I would get a chance and unfortunately I didn’t, although I was on the bench 19 times during the season.
I just wanted 10 minutes off a bench to show myself and it really frustrated me that the gaffer didn’t seem to rate me enough to give me a chance to show if I could sink or swim.
I spoke to my dad and agent and said: ‘I can’t do this for another year’. From the outside, it looked amazing to all my friends because I was training and travelling with United’s first team. For me, it was mentally tough because I was just training and not allowed to play with the under-23s. I thought to myself, ‘I’m just like a number’.
I was supposed to start a cup game against Charlton Athletic from League 1. I was in all the shapes and patterns in pre-match training. I was starting as a 10 and Lisandro Martinez came up to me and said: ‘Now’s your chance’. He talked to me and said, ‘all of us are supporting you. Just show yourself, you’re a good player. We’re going to fight for you, make sure you’re ready to fight'. It motivated me and it was nice from him, an aggressive leader in the team, a big player. I got tickets for family and friends to see me. Finally, my chance.
Then I got to the stadium, looked at the whiteboard and didn’t see my name. I was gutted. Then I thought I’d come off the bench. Nothing. That was the turning point for me. I didn’t feel the manager respected me enough to play me.
We had the Under-19 World Cup that April, so I went to the manager. Before that, I saw Tom Heaton, a senior player. I told Tom what I was going to say, that I was going to play against England and Uruguay and that it would be a good chance to show myself. Tom shook his head and said: ‘That’s awful. You’re making it about yourself. Make it about the gaffer’. Tom gave me a few points to say, like that I’ve trained under him for a year and wanted to show him how I’d developed.
Q: And what happened?
A: The manager [Ten Hag] listened and then told me he didn’t want me to go to the tournament. He said it was the end of the season; we had injuries and needed training numbers, too. He told me to stay patient. So I did. I was sure I’d play some minutes and become the first Iraqi player in the Premier League.
It didn’t happen, not even in the last games when there was little to play for. My best friend, Ali Al Hamadi of Ipswich, became the first Iraqi player, so I’m happy it’s him.
But I told my agent that I needed to move. I’d done everything that was asked and didn’t get a chance. I saw that Jadon Sancho had moved abroad from Man City, Paul Pogba from Man United. I was happy to try and take a similar route.
Q: But you did have a chance under the previous manager, Ralf Rangnick. Under him you became the first South Asian player to play in the Champions League.
A: I’d done well against Atlanta in the Uefa Youth League when Nick Cox, the head of the academy, came up to me while I was having a Covid test. He hinted that I may be involved vs Young Boys in the Champions League the following night.
I trained with the first team and was added to a WhatsApp group. On the day of the game, we stayed in a hotel really close to where I grew up. Opposite a field which I’d climb over a fence to play during lockdowns. One minute I was playing there with my mates, the next I was preparing for a Champions eague game in a hotel two minutes’ walk from my house.
Charlie Savage, who was also set to play, and I were nervous. We’d struggled to sleep, so he came to my room in the day and we sat there trying the different coffees in the hotel room and talking rubbish.
Then we got the coach to Old Trafford. I knew friends and family would be there. When we warmed up, they came to see me by the side of the pitch.
I came on for Jesse Lingard. I just wanted to touch the ball and I got a few touches. As I walked off I thought ‘that’s what I've dreamed of’. I saw my mum – as usual! – was crying. I got home and dad was crying. Even my uncle was crying. Brother was enjoying himself. What a night!
Jesse gave me his match shirt, which I’ve got framed at home with a picture of me coming on for him. Jesse was number 14 that night, the number I’d worn at Sale United. The number of Johan Cruyff, who my Sale coach Stuart Hamer loved. I like being number 14. I was that number in the academy and I wear it now.
Q: Where does the name Zidane come from?
A: People think it’s off Zinedine Zidane. Well, he’s originally Algerian. So my mum and dad wanted something a bit unique but still Muslim, kind of. Dad enjoyed watching Zinedine Zidane play but my parents wanted a unique name. There’s only one other Zidane I know, a mate in Manchester.
Q: You could have played international football for England, Pakistan and Iraq. Why did you choose Iraq?
A: The fans. The amount of support and love they showed me was amazing, on social media, In real life. There are Iraqis in England, people like my mum who left when the war was on.
Then I went to Iraq and realised how much football meant to them. There are huge crowds for games – 60,000 in a new stadium in Basra. Fans get in four hours before kick-off. It’s loud. There’s a screen with the players' faces on. They put my face on the camera and everyone’s cheering and I’m clapping for the fans. And then they show my mum’s face and, guess what, she’s crying! And smiling. She was wearing an Iraq shirt and that was the first time she’d watched me in her home country. And that moment is probably the proudest moment of my football career. Dad? He missed it all, he was praying!
As a country, Iraq is so welcoming. Of course the media portrays it as war torn and there are areas where it shows, but what can the people do when they have been attacked so much? In my experience, they can’t do enough for you.
The food’s amazing. The portions are huge; it’s not like England.
Q: What’s it like playing when you are fasting?
A: The first week is always the toughest, especially when it’s hot, but you get used to it; it’s a mental thing. You tell yourself you can do it and then, when you’re running and stuff, when you're so focused on the game, you kind of forget you’re hungry. Well, that’s me anyway.
If I am thirsty, I'll put water in my mouth, gargle it and spit it out, just so my mouth stays moist. After the first week, the hunger kind of goes, you get into the routine and it's nice. In Utrecht they cater to us and give us different timings. We do get a couple of hours extra in bed because we're not going to eat, so there’s no point us being there.
With Iraq, I really enjoy it when I’m there. I just want to pay them back for the support. We’ve got big games later this year against possibly Saudi Arabia, Qatar and UAE. Maybe Indonesia and Oman.
Q: What’s the standard like for Iraq?
A: Yeah, we've got a couple who play in Poland, a couple in Saudi, a couple in England. Our team now is good, we’ve got lads in Norway, Sweden. We’re 58th in the world [ranking]. And we have tough games. My debut for Iraq was away to Iran. It was freezing. I’m aware of the history between the countries, the rivalry. Iraq has a few big rivals! Kuwait is another. As a player, I respect all my opponents off the pitch.
Q: And for Utrecht?
A: Get over this injury, get back in the team, play week in week out. There are big games there against top teams. I’ve got two years on my contract; we have European football and hopefully the Europa League.
Utrecht is a good club and city. Family club. It’s football still, a ruthless environment, but the gaffer’s very nice, the fans are strong in their support. And my family still come to visit and enjoy it. My brother Daoud, who is 20, can come more now before he hopefully goes to university. He wants to study dentistry.
For me, I’ll continue to do my best for my club and for Iraq. This is the life that I always wanted.
