Muzzy İzzet

Muzzy İzzet — Biography

Muzzy İzzet is a midfielder remembered as the first Turkish player in the Premier League and as one of Leicester City's club icons. He grew up in London as the son of a Turkish Cypriot father and an English mother, and chose to play internationally for Turkey. In Leicester he is still fondly remembered, and a bronze statue of him stands near the stadium.

He began at Senrab FC and moved into Chelsea's youth system, signing professional terms in 1993, but never played for the first team in three years there. A loan to Leicester in March 1996 changed his career: after the side beat Crystal Palace in the play-off final and reached the Premier League, he joined permanently for 800,000 pounds. With Neil Lennon alongside him in midfield, the team won the League Cup in 1996-97 and 1999-2000. He asked to leave in 2001, yet stayed until 2004; in his last season he led the Premier League in assists.

In 2004 he joined Birmingham City on a free transfer, but a knee injury limited him to very few games and he retired in June 2006. He won nine caps for Turkey, appearing in the goalless draw with Sweden at Euro 2000 and as a substitute against Brazil in the 2002 World Cup semi-final, as part of the squad that finished third. Today he runs a football academy with Steve Walsh, and his autobiography Muzzy: My Story appeared in 2015.