Mazraoui Opens Up About the 50-50 Decision to Pursue Football Career

The Morocco international reflected on the challenges he faced in the early stages of his career, acknowledging the difficulties he encountered. Despite this, he shared that a turning point occurred which propelled him to the pinnacle of success.

"When I became older and more mature, it was still, yeah, almost 50-50 (whether I would make it)," he said in October's issue. "I went and played professional football without a contract. And, what you said, it was do or die because, at that moment, you come to the point of no return. 

"It’s either you go for it fully or that’s it. You will just make steps upwards or, from there on, it could be the end of your career, but you cannot even say your career as it was not even at the beginning. 

"So that was a little bit the case when I became 18 or 19 years old and, from there on, something in my head just switched. 

The midfielder suddenly had a lot of confidence and optimism which sparked the start of his rise to the height of European football. 

"It was just that I went fully for it," he recalled. "And, yeah, from that moment on, I didn’t look back anymore about how I went through the stages and through the Academy, or even this moment. 

"I didn’t look back anymore. I just looked forward. I had a goal and that was to fight for a contract and to be a professional footballer because I was just so close, I could smell it. And, yeah, if you don’t make it, it would be that you will regret that for the rest of your life. And I wouldn’t want to live with that.” 

The 26-year-old defender joined United from Bayern Munich this summer as the club looks to rebuild a midfield that has struggled in previous years.