Gabriel Zakuani

Zakuani retired from international duty in September 2018, having made 29 appearances since making his debut in 2013.

In October 2020 Zakuani was appointed joint caretaker manager of Spalding United alongside Neal Spafford and was later given the job on a permanent basis with Spafford as his assistant and Lomana LuaLua to be brought in as an attacking coach. In November 2021 he stepped down from the role due to his increased business and media commitments.

Leyton Orient

Born in Kinshasa, Zakuani moved to London as a young child. Leyton Orient spotted him playing in one of his school matches as a 14-year old and signed him. After two seasons in Orient's youth team, Zakuani was given his first-team debut against AFC Bournemouth in March 2003, aged 16. In the 2004–05 and 2005–06 seasons, he became a regular in Martin Ling's plans, making the central defence position his own and scoring three goals in almost 100 first team appearances for Orient. In January 2006, Zakuani was part of the Leyton Orient side that defeated Premier League, Fulham 2–1 in the FA Cup third round. His performance attracted the attention of the West London side, who signed him in July that year for a fee of £1 million, rising to £1.5 million depending on appearances, on a four-year contract. The fee represented a club record for Leyton Orient.

Fulham

Zakuani only played twice for Fulham in his three-year spell with the club, in the League Cup against Wycombe Wanderers and in the FA Cup against Leicester City.

Loans to Stoke City

Zakuani signed for Stoke City on loan for the remainder of the 2006–07 season. Despite being a centre back, Zakuani also deputised as a right-back during his loan spell. He made his debut for Stoke in a 2–0 win away at Derby County in February 2007. He went on to make another eight appearances for Stoke during the 2006–07 season as City narrowly missed out on a play-off place. On 31 August 2007, Zakuani…

His brother Steve is a former professional footballer who came through the Arsenal academy, before playing collegiate soccer with the Akron Zips and for the Cleveland Internationals of the USL Premier Development League. He then graduated to Major League Soccer and played for Seattle Sounders FC and Portland Timbers before retiring, citing injuries. In 2007, Zakuani appeared in Dizzee Rascal's music video for his single "Flex".