“I can tell Hamza Choudhury is proud of where he's from” - Dhanda

Yan Dhanda

and his fellow countryman

Hamza Choudhury

are prolific British South Asian players, as well as Aston Villa’s Neil Taylor and Stoke’s Danny Batth.

The 23-year-old Choudhury, who 14 months older than Dhanda, is the first Bangladeshi origin player to dignify the

through a victory for

in the clash against

in 2017. The only other British South Asian players to have appeared in the to-flight before the former Leicester U23 captain are Taylor, Zesh Rehman, Michael Chopra, and Jimmy Carter.

The 23-year-old’s goal against

last year has been named one of the Premier League’s goals of 2020. He also has scored his first European goal in the 2-1 victory over AEK Athens.

"

The good thing that I love about Hamza is that I can tell he is proud of where he's from,

" Dhanda said.

"

He's not hiding anything about who he is, and where he is from, and where his family are from. That's the good thing because people should be proud of where they are from and do what they want to do.

"I'm friends with Hamza actually, so I am even happier for him [and his success with Leicester]. I'd be happy for him even if I wasn't, but because we are friends I am so happy for him.

"I've said it before, even when we were kids I used to hate playing against him because he was that good. You'd think you were past him and he comes out of nowhere and just takes the ball off you!

"It just proves my point. Hamza is so good, he's believed in himself and look what he's doing, he's scored in the Europa League [earlier this season].

"I've believed in myself and now I've got myself into the Swansea team. It just proves my point that anyone from anywhere with hard work and belief in themselves can get anywhere."

Aldershot assistant manager Anwar Uddin who played in this country professionally stated that: "

Hamza and Yan continue to develop into both fantastic footballers and fantastic role models." 

"Those two and the likes of Mal Benning, Otis Khan, Danny Batth, Neil Taylor, and others, are inspiring the next generation of young players from the South Asian community because they offer living, breathing proof that you can make it in the game, regardless of your background.

"There is also a really good crop of South Asian players coming through behind these guys at clubs throughout the leagues and also some really promising talent in the women's game. That's not just limited to the pitch, by the way, as there are a plethora of coaches all searching for an opportunity.

"It's brilliant to see Sky Sports take a lead in raising awareness of British South Asians across the game. It is the most exciting time for British South Asians in football that I can remember.

"Yes there are still issues we need to address but lets not forget the positive stories and role models who have succeeded despite these concerns. Life is all about balance so it's time we add some balance to this narrative as we now have some amazing people leading the way."

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