During Erik ten Hag’s tenure, Manchester United made the mistake of selling quite a few academy wonderkids, one of them being Zidane Iqbal.
The Iraq international moved to FC Utrecht in the Dutch Eredivisie, where he has started to blossom after a difficult debut campaign marred by injuries.
Last season, the midfielder started 20 games in all competitions, as his club finished fourth in the league and qualified
for the 25/26 UEFA Europa League.
But it could have been so much more different, especially when former interim boss Ralf Rangnick gave him his first-team debut in the Champions League.
Iqbal’s first United pre-season experience At this stage, he was touted as a star in the making, and those claims were further cemented when the Manchester-born star saw plenty of minutes in Ten Hag’s first pre-season tour.
“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,” Zidane Iqbal told The National.
“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.
“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’.
“Being 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.”
EtH’s bizarre decisions Then the midfielder went on to explain how betrayed he felt when the Dutchman refused to hand him minutes, not even in the Cup games while also not allowing him to play for the U21s and for his U19 national team.
In fact, the Carrington graduate made the matchday squad 17 times in all competitions, but saw zero minutes. He only played 10 times for the reserves that year.
“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 and 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. Spoke to my dad and agent and said: ‘I can’t do this for another year’.
No minutes whatsoever “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 and I was in all the shapes and patterns in pre-match training. It was supposed to be me 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.
EtH’s betrayal “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. 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.”
Now 24, Iqbal is finally starting to show what he is capable of. His aim for next season: become a regular starter and avoid injuries, while hoping to impress in Europe, where it had all started for him in Manchester.
A little known fact, United still have a buyback clause inserted into Iqbal’s deal. Who knows what might happen in the future if the former academy wonderkid can keep pushing hard.
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Ayantan Chowdhury Ayantan has worked for 10 years in the Indian sports media industry, writing for the biggest newspapers and websites but his heart was always set on writing about his favourite club. Currently an editor at The Peoples Person. You can follow him on X: @ayantanc_25
