Noussair Mazraoui: Manchester United's 'best signing in years' on Ruben Amorim, Erik ten Hag, and his faith

Moroccan defender, who was a bright spark in a terrible 2024/25 season at Old Trafford, speaks to The National ahead of this Sunday's derby against Man City

Noussair Mazraoui played 57 times for Manchester United in his first season at the club. Getty Images

Noussair Mazraoui has played for some of the biggest clubs in world football. Fourteen years at Ajax, including five in the first team. Two seasons with Bayern Munich. And in 2024, he moved to Manchester United and played 57 times in his first season, far more than he’d ever played before.

Multiple United insiders say he is the best signing they have made in years. There are several reasons for this. Mazraoui is technically secure on the ball with both feet, he dribbles well out of pressure, his game understanding impresses teammates and coaches.

United knew they were getting a good player, but have been surprised at how agile and aggressive the Dutch-born Morocco international has been, how strong he is.

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Known as ‘Nous’ to his teammates, the 27-year-old is also versatile and can play right-back, left-back and central defender.

He’s a full-back that both cuts inside and plays midfield – both high and low. Like a modern day Denis Irwin, United’s legendary full-back, Mazraoui is consistent week after week, delivering with a seven or an 8/10 performance.

He’s quiet, popular with his teammates, respectful and unassuming. They trust him with the ball and know that he’ll be calm when they pass to him under pressure.

Mazraoui won’t play anything like 57 games for United this season since the team have no European football, nor League Cup commitment, and he’s also missed the start of the season with injury, though he returned for United’s third league game against Burnley and he’s primed to start in Sunday’s Manchester derby.

The National spoke to Mazraoui about life, faith and, of course, United.

How was your first season at Manchester United?

On a personal level, my fitness and the amount of games I played, I can look back to a good season. In fitness, the Premier League is always different than the other competitions. No winter break obviously. The games were following up really fast. So, from that kind of way, it was good.

Of course, I don't think I have to talk about the performances as a team. The result was where we were [at the end of] the season. That says enough, and everybody knows about that.

You played a lot more games than in previous seasons. Was that a surprise and how were the physical demands compared to the other leagues you played in?

You hope to stay fit and play as much as possible. That hadn’t always been the case for me. The Premier League is a bigger demand than other competitions, so you must take even more care of your body.

I had a switch in my mindset – be fit and ready and I think that helped me play so many games. I believe in my own quality too, so I knew if I could reach my own level I would play a lot of games. I knew that beforehand because I know my level.

How is the Premier League different from the other leagues that you've played in?

It was no winter break for me for the first time. Instead, you have even more games. Previously, I’d felt during end of November or at the start of December that your body is looking forward to a little break.

In the Premier League, you don’t get that one. So that was a hard period. I think from December to January were some hard months for me. Because you must get used to it and your body's used to something else, to a little break.

And, also the speed of play. It's high, but I think it has a lot to do also with the quality of the other teams – there's a lot of quality in the Premier League. You see it just now.

We signed two great players from Wolves and Brentford [Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo] – it shows every team in the Premier League has quality, that the average quality is higher than other competitions.

We're not going to speak too much about last season, but I want you to pull out a couple of positives, on a personal level, from a very difficult season.

For me personally, that I was able to play this many games and minutes. I managed to play more minutes last season than I did the past two and a half seasons [in total]. I played some great games too and reached a first European final. At the end, not winning it hurt, but reaching the first final is already a first step.

I feel like it's always a little bit hard when you come to a new club. You always see that players need time to adapt, but I don't think I really needed any time to adapt. I adapted very quickly, so that's also a big positive from last season.

How would you describe Manchester United, the club, to your friends back home if they knew nothing about the club?

A huge club, really a huge club. Everybody knows Manchester United. Everybody sees them. Everybody likes to talk a lot about them in every kind of way, there's a lot of attention and focus on the club. That's what you see and that's what you feel inside the club. You feel that the pressure is on.

We can’t have a season like last season, and before that even winning the FA Cup but still being seventh or eighth in the league is still not enough for this club, so that's how you know how big this club is.

But Ajax is a big club, Bayern Munich is a big club. I spoke to Erik ten Hag and he said, you know, Ajax is international, it's big, but Man United is global.

I totally agree with that. If you see it that way, pressure -wise, it's the same. If you lose one game, two games, it's crisis. It's the same in Ajax. That's a little bit like what I'm used to – it’s just 10 times bigger. I think the Premier League makes it even, you know, even more international, so it’s a story in India, the US, Africa.

How does that pressure come? Is it online? Is it television? How does it manifest itself daily?

I guess online, but yeah, that's the world we live in. I'm not a person who is really searching the whole internet for all kinds of opinions because there are just way too many for this club.

What's your personality like? Because I spoke to some of your coaches and they talked about you being good under pressure with the ball. How would you describe yourself or how would your friends describe you?

I don't really like to talk about myself, so maybe that says a lot already about my personality. I'm a relaxed guy. I like to be nice with everybody. With teammates, because we see each other every day, I try to have a good bond with everybody.

If you see each other every day and it gives you even the feeling, like in games, that if you are good then in a game you can say some things to each other which is important without anybody getting frustrated or angry.

Away from football I like being with my family and have a few hobbies. This summer I went sea fishing, but didn't catch anything, so now I'm looking for something else.

You didn't catch one fish?

No, I caught one, but it was small, so that's not what I was looking for. I fished for quite a long time. I went three days straight from five in the morning till one o 'clock, two o 'clock and yeah, just a small fish. So now I'm a retired fisherman.

Who's difficult to play against in the Premier League?

[Mohamed] Salah, [Karou] Mitoma, [Anthony] Elanga, so you just keep going. [Asks his wife] Yasmin, which was my toughest, toughest game this season against who? It was, I guess, Mitoma. In the second game, so the first game, I think I really had him, I had him. The second game, he scored two goals, so I really blamed myself.

What's your favourite position?

I've been playing now a very long time as the right full-back. And lately also the right centre-back. Right full-back is my favourite position, my best position as well. That's where everything goes automatic. When I get the ball, I know my options. I know what I can do, what I can't do. I know how to defend. It's less thinking, it's more enjoying.

Was it difficult for you when Erik ten Hag left the club?

Yeah, of course, because he was also a reason I came to the club. You come to a club because for the club itself, but also for the manager.

I worked some good years with him at Ajax, so that's also one of the reasons I came here. And then if he's gone after two or three months, that's never nice, because you feel also responsible for that. Because if the players perform, the manager stays, it's that simple.

Ajax's Noussair Mazraoui is hugged by Ajax's then head coach Erik ten Hag in 2022. AP

What’s Ruben Amorim like?

A great manager, a great person. I really love to work with him. I like him a lot. His way of thinking, his way of managing, his way of talking. He's like a manager with a lot of values, which I have the same. So, yeah, that works great together.

What type of values?

Being always respectful, being always honest. Never lies, says how it is without any edge. Sometimes it can be harsh, but I'd rather have that it's the truth and a little bit harsh than a lie. And that it's, you know, it kind of sweetens things up.

What went wrong in Bilbao in the Europa League final?

That's a good question. We could control the game and play, have a lot of passes, but together we couldn’t find a way to score. It was a little summary of the whole season, I guess.

Can not playing in Europe this season help United? With extra time for preparation and a lower workload, for example?

I can't say, I've never not played in Europe, so for me the first time. So, I can't really know if it's something positive or negative. We'll go and see.

How important is your faith to you?

That's number one for me, that's everything.

What's it like playing during Ramadan?

It's like playing like any other month, but then without food or water. I still must play football. I still must run. No excuses. You must dig in deeper. You must get through a lot more pain during the game than normally. But, like I said, my faith is everything for me. So that's a small, small, small price to pay.

Tell us about the Moroccan national team and Morocco hosting Afcon in December and January.

I reckon it's going to be amazing, an amazing Afcon in our own country. We didn't win it for a long, long time so the pressures and expectations are high. We have a great team, a great group of players, a great coach. So yeah, it's going to be an exciting tournament.

And they're building all the incredible new stadiums in Morocco too, some of the biggest ones in the world?

The federation and everybody are busy with making it one of the best experiences for us, for all the other countries and for the supporters. And, a the view the 2030s, the World Cup is going to be there as well.

How would you describe your new home, Manchester, as a city?

I really love it. It's a little bit like where I grew up in the Netherlands. So yeah, I don’t mind really when it's raining or when the sun is shining and the next hour it’s raining. So, I’m not used to anything different. So I really love it. It’s like I’ve been there for a very long time but I’ve just been here for like a year.