Zeshan Rehman

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Personal information
Zeshan Rehman
Full name	Zeshan Rehman
Date of birth	14 October 1983
Place of birth	Birmingham, UK
Height	6'2
Nickname	Zesh
Playing position	Central defender
Club information
Current club	Brighton & Hove Albion
Number	21
Youth clubs
	Fulham
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
2003–2006 2003–2004 2006 2006– 2007	Fulham → Brighton & Hove (loan) → Norwich City (loan) QPR → Brighton & Hove (loan)	21 (1) 11 (2) 05 (0) 23 (0) 4 (0)
National team²
2005	Pakistan	4 (0)
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 9 April 2007. ² National team caps and goals correct as of n/a. * Appearances (Goals)

Zeshan 'Zesh' Rehman (born October 14, 1983 in Birmingham, England) is a football defender playing for Queens Park Rangers in The Championship and for the Pakistan national football team. He was the first Pakistani and British Asian to play in the Premiership and is often referred to as the best British Asian footballer around - but such titles are often subjective and do not hold much relevance.

[edit] Playing career

A product of the FA Youth setup and Fulham F.C. Youth academy, Zesh was also an England youth international in the past at U17 and U20 age levels, Zesh always wanted to represent England, but lack of proper first team outings at Fulham didnt help his cause and becoming the first British Asian to don the England senior football shirt seemed too far away. Because of his Pakistani parentage and possessing dual Pakistani and British nationality, he also qualified to represent the Pakistan national football team. At first he was reluctant to become a Pakistani international, but given repeated snubs by the England senior squad management, he opted for Pakistan eventually, although a lot of British Asian groups were against this and wanted Zesh to fight for the England place more to set a standard for British Asian youth, but to no avail.

With that in mind, and with the blessings of his father, Zeshan made his international debut for Pakistan, on December 7 2005 at Karachi against Sri Lanka in the 2005 SAFF Cup, receiving decent attention from the Pakistani media circles and fans. Pakistan ultimately reached the semi-finals before losing out to Bangladesh 1-0 which happened to be Zesh's last game for Pakistan for now. Since then, worries of little first team action for club have made him ignore the AFC Challenge Cup 2006 and the AFC Asian Cup 2007 qualifiers for Pakistan, and instead fighting for a first team club place back at Fulham, with little success.

As of yet, he has yet to decide whether he will ever play for Pakistan again in the immediate future, although fans are hopeful for Zesh's return from his self-imposed exile from the national side.

At the start of 2006, Rehman was loaned out to Championship side Norwich City for the rest of the season, as a defensive cover to the injury-hit Canaries. Before the 2006/07 season, Rehman completed a transfer to Queens Park Rangers F.C. from Fulham on a three-year contract for an undisclosed fee in August 2006. Although the transfer was considered a "downward move", Rehman was quoted saying "All I want to do is play; the money doesn't interest me anymore". He further added "I could have sat at Fulham and just been happy to pick up my wages but that's not what I am all about".

Although Zesh has featured regularly for QPR since his arrival, the team's inconsistent performances and poor form have made them seem caught dangerously close to the relegation zone in the 2006-07 Championship season. His own poor form hasn't contributed either, as many fans have made him QPR's scapegoat.

Due to falling down the pecking order at QPR recently, it was announced on the club's official website on March 22nd 2007 that Zesh has been loaned out to League One side Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. for a month with an option for the "Seagulls" to retain him till the end of the season. This is Zesh's second loan stint with the club after a previous loan deal during 2003/04 season while at Fulham. Zeshan Rehman made his return to Brighton & Hove on 24th March 2007 in a 0-0 draw against visitors Huddersfield Town F.C..