Senegal striker, Nicolas Jackson has revealed how he had to endure playing football in either his school or with no shoes at all.
Jackson, who currently plays for Chelsea in the Premier League has so far this season been a livewire helping the side to the spot on the league log with just two points behind leaders Liverpool, after 16 matches.
The promising striker has scored nine goals and three assists in the 15 games.
“We didn’t have original boots because it’s too expensive, so normally I played with my school shoes or barefoot because my family didn’t want me to play,” he revealed while speaking to Showmax and Premier League Productions.
“It’s not that they didn’t want me to play. They didn’t just want me to waste my time playing football because it’s too difficult to be successful in football in Senegal. You have to be very talented or lucky to go.
“Maybe two players leave in 10 years or two players leave in five years.
“So it’s not that they didn’t want me to play, it’s just they didn’t want me to waste my time playing. So, they said, no, don’t play, just study, study, study, study. So I was always studying.”
Jackson went on to state that he eventually settled on pursuing football as a career for himself.
“It’s difficult to choose, so you just have to do what you want to do and try to go with it 100%,” Jackson said.
“So I did football and then decided I’m just going to play, and I went all out in training every day.
“And then I went to the teams and I played street football when I was young, of course. I started off in first division, then went to Villareal and now I am at Chelsea.”
