The second-most popular player at Manchester United has played eight minutes for the first-team. Cristiano Ronaldo is the most requested interviewee by media personnel and the second is a Manchester-born teenager who only signed his first professional contract last year.
Such is the interest in Zidane Iqbal that United have already received innumerable requests from those in the football-centric Middle East. Amid the glut of emails and calls, the club decided to conduct an in-house interview with the player on the eve of his first call-up to the Iraq national squad.
Already regarded as a trailblazer within the Asian community in professional football, on Thursday Iqbal came on for Iraq against Iran to become the 32nd current United player to play for their country. He almost didn't make the bench.
