Why Manchester United are selling Zidane Iqbal

It was supposed to be the season that made Zidane Iqbal at Manchester United. Instead, it turned out to be his last.

The 20-year-old was arguably the standout performer on United's pre-season tour last summer, but despite being highly rated at the club, he is set to leave permanently this week.

The Manchester Evening News confirmed reports on Tuesday night that United had accepted an offer believed to be around €1million from FC Utrecht.

Iqbal completed a medical on Monday and is set to sign a four-year deal with the Dutch side, bringing to an end his 11-year spell with the club.

Read next: United accept offer for Iqbal

For many United fans, it is a bitter pill to swallow. While pre-season performances are not always an accurate gauge of a player's suitability for the first team (see Andreas Pereira 2015–2021), it always felt like there was a lot more to come from Iqbal.

He is not only a trailblazer off the pitch as one of the very few professional footballersfrom a British Asian background, but a blazing talent on it with his incredible technical ability.

Next Wednesday will mark a year since he agreed to a new deal that would have kept him at United until at least June 2025, with the option to extend for a further year.

While it would have taken a lot of hard work for the Whalley Range-born midfielder to ever fulfil that potential, nobody would have imagined that less than a year later he'd be gone for good.

United fans were blown away by Iqbal's influence in those early pre-season games, and he appeared to be the ideal fit for a manager who values technical ability and poise in his players.

There was plenty of loan interest in his signature throughout his time at the club, yet the decision was made to keep him at