Luca Zidane Explained

Luca Zidane
Full Name:Luca Zinedine Zidane Fernández
Birth Date:13 May 1998
Birth Place:Aix-en-Provence, France
Height:1.83 m[1]
Position:Goalkeeper
Currentclub:Granada
Youthyears1:2004–2018
Youthclubs1:Real Madrid
Years1:2016–2019
Clubs1:Real Madrid B
Caps1:49
Goals1:0
Years2:2017–2020
Clubs2:Real Madrid
Caps2:2
Goals2:0
Years3:2019–2020
Clubs3:Racing Santander (loan)
Caps3:33
Goals3:0
Years4:2020–2022
Clubs4:Rayo Vallecano
Caps4:19
Goals4:0
Years5:2022–2024
Clubs5:Eibar
Caps5:73
Goals5:0
Years6:2024–
Clubs6:Granada
Caps6:0
Goals6:0
Nationalyears1:2014
Nationalteam1:France U16
Nationalcaps1:3
Nationalgoals1:0
Nationalyears2:2014–2015
Nationalteam2:France U17
Nationalcaps2:14
Nationalgoals2:0
Nationalyears3:2015–2016
Nationalteam3:France U18
Nationalcaps3:6
Nationalgoals3:0
Nationalyears4:2016
Nationalteam4:France U19
Nationalcaps4:6
Nationalgoals4:0
Nationalyears5:2018
Nationalteam5:France U20
Nationalcaps5:1
Nationalgoals5:0
Club-Update:6 June 2024

Luca Zinedine Zidane Fernández (born 13 May 1998) is a French professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Segunda División club Granada CF. He is the son of former footballer Zinedine Zidane.

Early life

Luca was born in Aix-en-Provence, and is the son of the FIFA World Cup-winning French footballer Zinedine Zidane and his wife Veronique Fernández.[2] He is the second of four brothers, and all of them – Enzo, Théo, and Elyaz – are footballers who developed at the youth academy of Real Madrid.[3] Luca is of Spanish descent through his mother,[4] and of Algerian descent through his father.[5] He has French and Spanish nationality.[6]

Club career

Luca joined the Real Madrid youth academy at the age of six in 2004 and plays as a goalkeeper.[7] He worked his way up from the academy, eventually joining Castilla, the reserve team.[8]

Luca's father Zinedine Zidane came to manage Real Madrid, and became Luca's manager early in his career.[9] Luca made his professional debut for Real Madrid in their last league game of the 2017–18 season: a 2–2 La Liga tie with Villarreal CF on 19 May 2018.[10] [11] During the 2017–18 UEFA Champions League, he was the third-choice goalkeeper, when Madrid won their third consecutive and 13th overall Champions League title.[12]

Luca was loaned to Racing Santander of Segunda División on 8 July 2019 for the 2019–20 season.[13] [14] He made his debut on 17 August 2019 in a 1–0 home loss to Málaga, in which he suffered an injury to the muscle on the back of his right leg.[15]

On 5 October 2020, Luca joined Rayo Vallecano.[16] He made his debut on 2 December, coming as substitute for Stole Dimitrievski who was sent off in a 1–0 loss to Leganés. When Dimitrievski played in UEFA Euro 2020 for North Macedonia, he played in all the remaining games of the season and led the team to promotion to the top flight after defeating Girona in the play-off final.[17]

On 1 September 2022, free agent Luca signed a two-year contract with Eibar in the second division.[18] On 22 March of the following year, he renewed his link with the club until 2026.[19]

On 5 July 2024, Zidane agreed to a three-year deal with Granada, recently relegated to the second division.[20]

International career

Born in France to French-born parents of Algerian and Spanish descent, Luca is a youth international for France. He represented the France U17s in their winning campaign at the 2015 UEFA European Under-17 Championship, and the 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup.[21] He was capped once for the under-20s on 23 March 2018, in a 1–0 friendly loss to the United States in Spain.[22] He remains available to represent the senior teams of France, Spain and Algeria, but has not decided which nation to represent.

Career statistics

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
ClubSeasonLeagueCupEuropeOtherTotal
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Real Madrid Castilla2016–17Segunda División B8080
2017–18Segunda División B130130
2018–19Segunda División B28020300
Total490000020510
Real Madrid2017–18La Liga10000010
2018–19La Liga10000010
Total2000000020
Racing Santander (loan)2019–20Segunda División33000330
Rayo Vallecano2020–21Segunda División1100040150
2021–22La Liga8050130
Total190500040280
Eibar2022–23Segunda División3300020350
2023–242800000280
Total610000020630
Career total16405000801770

Honours

Real Madrid

France U17

2015[24]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Luca – Real Madrid CF. Real Madrid CF.
  2. Web site: Maldini, Zidane, Kluivert, Hagi, Weah – the sons of legends making their own way. 27 July 2019. BBC Sport.
  3. Web site: Bleus – Après Enzo, voilà Luca Zidane !. RMC. SPORT.
  4. Web site: Actualités Véronique Zidane.
  5. Web site: Interview: Zidane à cœur ouvert (2e partie) : "J'attends que l'Algérie passe au deuxième tour et même plus !". Kreo. lebuteur.com.
  6. Web site: S . Zakaria . 2023-01-11 . Quand le fils de Zidane affiche son ambition de représenter l'Algérie . 2023-12-27 . www.algerie360.com . fr.
  7. Web site: Zidane's four sons joined Real when he was at the club – MARCA English. 9 September 2016 .
  8. Web site: Real Madrid : Luca Zidane poursuit son ascension. 20 April 2015 .
  9. Web site: LaLiga – Real Madrid: Luca Zidane selected by his father – MARCA in English. 19 May 2018 .
  10. Web site: Villarreal vs. Real Madrid – 19 May 2018 – Soccerway. us.soccerway.com.
  11. Web site: LaLiga – Villarreal 2–2 Real Madrid: Luca Zidane: When I play I'm Luca, not Zidane – MARCA in English. 19 May 2018 .
  12. Web site: Madrid beat Liverpool to complete hat-trick. 26 May 2018. uefa.com.
  13. Web site: Luca Zidane jugará en el Racing la campaña 2019/20 cedido por el Real Madrid. 8 July 2019. realracingclub.es.
  14. Web site: Official Announcement: Luca Zidane. 8 July 2019. realmadrid.com.
  15. News: Luca Zidane se lesiona en el primer partido de la temporada . Luca Zidane gets injured in the first game of the season. 24 August 2019 . Sport . 20 August 2019 . Spanish.
  16. News: Luca Zidane nuevo jugador del Rayo Vallecano. 5 October 2020. rayovallecano.es. 5 October 2020. es.
  17. News: Luca Zidane: "No hay palabras para describir este momento". Luca Zidane: "There are no words to describe this moment". 3 October 2021 . . 20 June 2021 . Spanish.
  18. Web site: Luca Zidane, décimo fichaje del Eibar. Luca Zidane, tenth signing of Eibar. SD Eibar. es. 1 September 2022. 2 September 2022.
  19. Web site: El Eibar renueva a Luca Zidane hasta 2026. Eibar renew Luca Zidane until 2026. Marca. es. 22 March 2023. 5 July 2024.
  20. Web site: Comunicado Oficial Luca Zidane, nuevo jugador del Granada CF. Official announcement Luca Zidane, new player of Granada CF. Granada CF. es. 5 July 2024. 5 July 2024.
  21. Web site: Luca Zidane: I don't want to be compared to my father. https://web.archive.org/web/20150910162815/http://www.fifa.com/u17worldcup/news/y=2015/m=9/news=luca-zidane-i-don-t-want-to-be-compared-to-my-father-2676306.html. dead. 10 September 2015. FIFA.com. 8 September 2015.
  22. News: U.S. U-20 MNT nets late-game winner to defeat France U-21 [''sic''] squad ]. 20 November 2019 . Soccerwire . 27 March 2018.
  23. Web site: A Zidane frustrates Real Madrid, as Luca impresses in goals . Marca . 26 February 2022 .
  24. Web site: Harrison . Wayne . 22 May 2015 . Édouard treble gives France second U17 title . 18 April 2023 . UEFA.