Manchester United defender Aaron Wan-Bissaka admits he almost gave up on football as a teenager.
Wan-Bissaka has explained his Dad saved his career before his £50m United transfer.
“You meet people from different areas and you want to do what they’re doing because it looks fun, so I kind of got dragged into that,” Wan-Bissaka told the Players’ Tribune.
“Playing with Crystal Palace, I started to not take it serious, stuff like diet. After school, I was there in the chicken and chip shop, fizzy drinks, the whole lot you can name it.
“It was a crowd where they didn’t play football, so their situation wasn’t the same as mine, they didn’t have to go to training after school.
“I kind of got dragged into that. Palace spoke to my Dad and they told me that it could be my last season.
“He spoke to me and I felt his pain, I felt it. Usually he’s lecturing me, but this one he was actually speaking to me and I’ve never seen him speak like that, so that’s when I knew it was serious.
“I thought this was my only chance, I can’t ruin it.”