In a recent appearance on The High Performance Podcast, Tottenham Hotspur coach Ryan Mason admitted he was dreaming of playing for the club again after he joined Hull City.
Mason came through the Spurs academy and developed through the youth teams, before making 70 appearances for the first team (Transfermarkt).
Things never quite worked out for Mason in North London though and he was eventually sold to Hull in 2016.
Injury problems limited his opportunities there and, after a severe head injury in a game against Chelsea, he was forced to retire from the game in 2018 at the age of just 26.
Since then, Mason has gone on to join the Tottenham coaching staff and even took over as caretaker manager after Jose Mourinho was sacked in 2021.
He became the youngest-ever manager in the Premier League at 29 years old and was in charge for the Carabao Cup final defeat against Manchester City.
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He is now part of the current coaching team under Antonio Conte and is thought to be a highly trusted member of the backroom staff (Alasdair Gold).
Despite leaving Spurs as a player, Mason revealed he was constantly motivated by his own desire to return to the club once again at some point.
He said: “I was dreaming. I was massive on visualisation. I imagined myself playing for Tottenham again. That was the goal.
“I had left, but the new goal was to get back to that level and play for Tottenham and England again.
“You have these thoughts, these images, this obsession to get there I guess.”
Spurs Web Opinion
It really is tragic how Ryan Mason’s career came to an end, especially after hearing about his ambitions at the time.
At least he is now developing really well as a coach, and hopefully one day he will be a manager once more.
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