After gaining valuable experience Chelsea and West Ham, Zech larbi made the switch to the Young Bluebirds this summer.
Zech is a player bearing plentiful ability, renowned for his dynamic playing style both on and off the ball and will undoubtedly be key to the U18 side’s success this campaign.
We caught up with the left-back to reflect on his time in the Welsh capital so far...
“A main factor that first brought me to Cardiff City was the opportunities here," he began. "The First Team manager is really invested in the youth players, and he often likes to give them the opportunity to play and train with the First Team. The Club has an excellent pathway for younger players to thrive and climb the ranks. That was key in my decision to come here.
“Playing for clubs like Chelsea and West Ham from a young age really helps you to develop a mindset of not becoming complacent as well as improving my abilities technically. Having the opportunity to play under top coaches from the moment I was first signed was great.
"I feel like they were always there to help me along the way. Playing against other top players at that level also really helped me to improve, push me to my limits and taught me how much I needed to fight for a spot to play.
“Since joining City, the other lads have been really helpful from the moment they first took me around the building when I first came in. Around the changing room, everyone is great to one another, and I really feel like we’re starting to gel as a team now."
Zech is one of nine U18s scholars signed this summer and has been making the adjustment to full-time football.
He continued: “The atmosphere in the changing room feels really lively at the minute, we all communicate really well with each other, we help each other when things go wrong and it’s overall a really great environment to be a part of.
“Our start to the season has been really good. Personally, I feel that this pre-season has been one of the best that I’ve had in my career to date and we went unbeaten. I feel like the team is really coming together now, playing well and we are starting to increase the physicality levels in training now.
“Our next game against Charlton will be really tough. They’re a really physical side, and having played Charlton quite a few times from my time in London, I understand their aggressive mindset and how they play on the front foot, man-to-man.
"To prepare for that, in training we’ve started to play against one another, increasing the level of physicality to replicate Charlton’s playing style."