Noussair Mazraoui has explained how there was a time in his career that sparked his drive and determination to succeed at the highest level.

The 26-year-old defender admits it was touch and go whether he would be able to make it in the professional game, when he became part of the Jong Ajax side, the Amsterdam giants’ second team, as a teenager.

During an absorbing interview with the new edition of Inside United, the official club magazine, the Morocco international opened up about the shift in mindset that triggered his remarkable rise that has ended up with him signing for the Reds from Bayern Munich this summer.

Inside United now on sale

“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.

“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.”

Read the interview in full with Noussair Mazraoui in the latest edition of, out now.

October’s Inside United now on sale

The new edition of Inside United has hit the streets, featuring our recent buys from Bayern Munich on the cover.

Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui provide two of the feature interviews in October’s official club magazine, as they settle into life at Old Trafford.

De Ligt’s first chat as a Red is covered in full, while Mazraoui discusses his path to Old Trafford in detail, including how he found the drive and determination to make it in the professional game, when pushing to prove himself at Jong Ajax, the Amsterdam club’s second team.

Mazraoui reveals moment it all changed

Manuel Ugarte, another of our big summer arrivals, is also included as the transfer window is covered in depth.

Of course, United Women have also been active in the close season and three of the new signings are introduced – Dominique Janssen, Elisabeth Terland and Anna Sandberg. Look out for some great imagery of them in the fresh third kit.

On the back of his new contract, there is also a focus on Bruno Fernandes, as the skipper committed his future to the Reds.

A new series kicks off telling the story of Manchester United via 10 key dates in the club’s history and there are profiles of Academy youngsters Harry Amass and Toby Collyer.

Our detailed Matches segment also provides a helpful guide to the new format of the Europa League and looks at the eight sides Erik ten Hag’s men will face at this stage of the competition.

The regular features include ‘By Numbers’, which goes into detail on Joshua Zirkzee, the History section, Quiz and Red Planet.

Reds bidding to extend impressive record

When it comes to visiting promoted teams in the Premier League, Manchester United are out to extend an impressive record at the weekend.

Saturday’s lunchtime kick-off against Southampton presents an opportunity for Erik ten Hag’s side to respond to the back-to-back defeats to Brighton & Hove Albion and Liverpool ahead of the international break.

The manager has overseen victories in each of the six games on the road against the league’s new sides during his previous two seasons at the club.

In 2022/23, the run started with a last-gasp 2-1 victory at Fulham, courtesy of Alejandro Garnacho’s brilliant injury-time winner, in the final domestic outing ahead of the winter World Cup in Qatar.

Watch Alejandro Garnacho’s dramatic winner at Fulham.

A trip to Nottingham Forest yielded a 2-0 triumph in March 2023, thanks to goals from Antony and Diogo Dalot, before Casemiro’s acrobatic effort earned the three points at Bournemouth in our final away fixture of Ten Hag’s first season in charge.

Last term, Bruno Fernandes volleyed home Jonny Evans’s pass to see off Burnley at Turf Moor. A month later, Sheffield United were overcome 2-1 at Bramall Lane, with Scott McTominay and Diogo Dalot on the scoresheet.

In February of this year, Rasmus Hojlund’s early double strike was enough to beat Luton Town 2-1 at Kenilworth Road to keep the run going.

Yet Opta have illustrated that the record stretches back even further for United.

The Reds have won our last eight matches away to promoted teams, our longest-ever such run in the competition.

The previous two victories, prior to Erik’s arrival, came at Brentford (3-1) and Norwich City (1-0), with the loss in 2021/22 suffered at the hands of Watford, 4-1 in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s final game at the helm.

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The defeat at Vicarage Road was certainly a blip when it comes to the overall record.

Opta point out that it is the only loss in our previous 30 Premier League games against the promoted sides, home and away, and we have won 15 of our last 17 of these fixtures.

Let’s hope we can get the three points in the 12:30 BST kick-off on the south coast on Saturday to extend this run further.