Zidane's eldest son Enzo Zidane hangs up his boots at 29

The eldest son of the Zidane family is handing in his boots. Enzo, 29, is leaving football after a difficult career in which he was never able to establish himself in the top flight. According to ‘AS’, the former midfielder has decided to retire, demotivated by the difficulties to fit into the world of football, where he had been unemployed for a season.

Fuenlabrada was the last stop on the Bordeaux-born player's journey, where his father was a star back in 1995. Curiously, the Madrid team was one of the ones that gave him the most opportunities and he did not leave a bad balance, although his season went from better to worse. 

Like all his younger brothers, Enzo wanted to follow in Zinedine's footsteps and started playing in Real Madrid's youth system. He left good impressions in the youth ranks and in Real Madrid C until he arrived at the 'Merengues' reserve team, where he spent two good seasons. In November 2016, his father gave him the opportunity to wear the first team shirt in a Copa del Rey match against Cultural Leonesa at the Santiago Bernabeu in which he scored.

However, that experience was not followed up and remained anecdotal. The club told him to look for a team after 13 years in the youth ranks and he found himself at Alaves, who play Real Madrid on Tuesday. There he could only play four games and in the winter he left for Lausanne Sports in Switzerland. After that, he returned to Spain and played a remarkable season with Rayo Majadahonda in the second division, although he was unable to avoid relegation.

From then on, the playmaker's path became more and more complicated. He never had consistency. In 2019-20 he spent half a season at Desportivo Aves in Portugal and another half at Almeria before spending eight months on the sidelines. In 2021-22 he returned after signing for Ligue 2 side Rodez, where his father is a shareholder, and finally played for recently relegated Fuenlabrada in the Spanish third tier.

The figure and surname of Zinedine Zidane were key to Enzo's arrival in professional football and even for him to stay there, but they were also a difficult burden to bear because of the very high expectations placed on him. After leaving ‘Fuenla’, the few offers he had were rejected because he didn't want to keep wandering around aimlessly. At that point he had practically decided that this was not for him.