William Troost-Ekong has spoken on the difficulty of having to leave Tottenham Hotspur as an academy player and how his early career threw up different challenges.
The Nigeria international joined the Tottenham youth set-up from Fulham back in 2010 and developed through to the Under 21 squad in North London before moving on a free transfer to Dutch side FC Groningen in 2013.
Troost-Ekong made just two appearances for the Tottenham Under 21s (Transfermarkt).
He has been something of a journeyman since, turning out for sides in the Netherlands, Belgium, Norway, and Turkey over the years.
He signed for Watford in 2020 and was part of the squad that was relegated from the Premier League last season.
The centre-back made 18 appearances for Watford last year (Transfermarkt), but has since joined Serie A side Salernitana on loan for the current campaign.
It’s not been an easy journey for the 29-year-old, but Troost-Ekong has opened up about his time with Tottenham, his Premier League experience, and his mistakes at the 2022 World Cup.
He told Salernitana News: “In dark moments the mental side is very difficult but important.
“They are the ones that mark you: I was kicked out of the Tottenham academy, I caused a penalty in my first match at the World Cup, last year in the Premier League I decided matches negatively by making some mistakes.
“It’s very painful. You experience the negative emotion of these moments, they are upsetting.
“Looking ahead, you realise that it won’t be the last difficult moment of your career, there will certainly be others.
“This made me feel fearless, because when you find yourself in a bad moment and you feel that thing is your worst nightmare, you think you have nothing left to lose.
“When something negative happens to you, you tend to protect yourself so that that situation doesn’t happen again, so again your mindset changes.”
On his time with Spurs, Troost-Ekong added: “When I first left England I dreamed of returning.
“I was hoping to become a first-team player: when you play as a kid in a youth academy you can’t wait to make your debut and play your first professional match.”
Spurs Web Opinion
I can’t imagine how difficult it is to remain mentally strong enough to pursue a career as a professional footballer after you leave the academy of a big club.
But fair play to Troost-Ekong, he stuck at it and has experience at the very top level now.