Manchester United youngster Zidane Iqbal is set to leave the club and join FC Utrecht on a permanent deal. Iqbal, a recent academy graduate who has advanced through the age groups, is about to sign a contract with the Eredivisie club, ending his more than ten-year affiliation with United. Iqbal became the first British South Asian to play for Manchester United in December 2021 when he debuted in the Champions League game against Young Boys. Zidane Iqbal, who was born in Manchester and whose parents are Pakistani and Iraqi, sat on the Manchester United bench seven times during the most recent Premier League season. Iqbal signed a new United deal last season and just turned 20. With his exit from Old Trafford, the Iraqi international now appears to be on track to continue his career at Dutch football’s top level.
Iqbal’s departure was announced less than a week after Arjan Raikhy, another prominent member of Britain’s South Asian community, decided to quit Aston Villa. Raikhy rose to fame with a miraculous strike against Chelsea for Villa’s U18s back in November 2020. He is apparently a transfer target for Wolves and Leicester. Just two months later, in an FA Cup third-round match against Liverpool that was dubbed “incredible” by the fans’ organization Punjabi Villans, the technically skilled midfielder earned his senior first-team debut.
Raikhy contributed to Ben Chrisene’s first goal in a 2-1 victory over Liverpool as Villa’s U18s won the FA Youth Cup, capping off a fantastic campaign. The Sikh-Punjabi had a successful season the next year, helping Stockport County and Grimsby Town, respectively, gain promotion back to the Football League during the course of two different loan stints. Raikhy has been dismissed along with a host of other players ahead of the upcoming season, after impressing Villa during their winter break in Dubai before to the 2018 World Cup.
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