A former Tottenham youth player has decided to swap the football pitch for the Oxford University lecture hall.
Han Willhoft-King, who was born in Jakarta, joined the Spurs academy in 2012 when he was just six years old, and he progressed through the academy ranks up to the Under-19 level.
The midfielder was capped twice by England at the Under-16 level, and many at Hotspur Way had high hopes for him.
However, Willhoft-King rejected a contract offered by Tottenham and signed for Man City’s academy last year, and he has now made the shock decision to quit the game.
Tottenham academy graduate explains why he quit football
The midfielder has been with Man City’s U21 side since last year, and according to talkSPORT, he even trained several times with Pep Guardiola’s first team.
However, the 19-year-old has now decided to walk away from football and has instead decided to study a law degree at Oxford’s Brasenose College.
When asked about his decision to leave football in favour of University education, Willhoft-King told The Guardian: “I wasn’t enjoying it. I don’t know what it was, maybe the environment. I’m bored often, as well. You’d train, you’d come home and you wouldn’t really do anything. If you contrast it to now, I’m struggling to find hours in the day.
“I’m either studying, going out with friends, playing for the university first team, also my college. I always felt under-stimulated in football. Don’t get me wrong. I still loved it. But I always felt I could be doing more. I was wasting hours of the day.
“I needed something different, and Oxford excited me; the people, too. I guess that’s the reason. Injuries were a big factor, but that’s the easy answer. I felt I needed something a bit more, mainly intellectually, which sounds quite pretentious.”
Han Willhoft-King admits long-term future was a concern in football
The topic of how young players struggle to cope once they fail to make the cut in football has started to receive some limelight in the media over recent years.
There is also the added concern of what footballers do post-retirement, especially the ones who do not manage to play at the highest level, and Willhoft-King admitted that was one of his worries about pursuing a football career.
He added: “Say I had a career in League One or the Championship, you make good money. But how much would I enjoy it? In my head, I wasn’t sure.
“Also, best-case scenario, you’ll play for 10, 15 years and after that, what? I thought going to university would provide a platform for me to do something, at least, for longer than the next 10 to 15 years. So, it’s a bit of a long-term thing, as well.”