Real Madrid fullback Ferland Mendy has lifted the lid on his struggles at PSG.
Mendy made his name at Olympique Lyon before landing a dream move to Real Madrid last year.
He recalled: “I did seven years at PSG, I started in second year Poussins with Presnel (Kimpembe), Kingsley (Coman), James Léa Siliki, then I entered pre-training at the age of 13 years.
“I did two years there, and then I had an injury. At that age for sure you wouldn’t expect it, I had arthritis in my hip, due to an infection. I had to have an operation, I was in the hospital for a long time, I was in plaster for two to three months.
“The doctor came to see me to tell me that football was over. There was even talk of amputation at one point. I was in a wheelchair for a while, then had to learn to walk again.
“When I got out of the chair, I had no more juice in my legs. Most people thought that was not going to be possible (to resume). I always told myself that football was not over. I learned to walk again and I played with pain in my hip for a year, a year and a half when I returned to the amateur section with PSG.
“The club didn’t know if they wanted to take me back to the center, so I preferred to go to FC Mantois.”