takes over and you up your game. If anything, I rose to the occasion.
It’s not like I was the only youngster, anyway – one of my team-mates
was Aaron Cresswell, who was 20 at the time.
I scored in my third appearance, just before half-time against Bristol
Rovers in September 2010, and signed my first professional contract
less than a month later. Everything was happening quick, and by the
end of the season I’d won League One Apprentice of the Year at the
Football League Awards.
As a teenager turning out at that level, scoring and doing well each
game, you’re going to attract bigger clubs. I sealed a move after only
a season, but it didn’t come as a surprise. When you’re playing well,
you want to be at the biggest clubs and you get the rewards. Everton
and West Ham were two clubs that came in for me, but Tranmere had
turned down their offers in the January window.
Then came the interest from Bayern Munich. You find out that these
sorts of clubs are interested and it’s all like, ‘Fine, yeah, I’ll do it’ – but
it’s only when I got on the plane to go over when it hit home. I wasn’t
nervous when I agreed the deal, but my family were there to see me
off at the airport. It was then I thought, ‘This is it – I’m in Germany now
for three years on my own’. As a young kid, that was daunting.
It’s quite surreal when you’re over there, putting the training kit of
a top five club in the world on, using their amazing facilities every day
with the first team on the pitch next to you. I was rubbing shoulders
with superstars and World Cup winners. I took all of that for granted
when I was at Liverpool, but I wasn’t going to do it again at Bayern.
Every day I appreciated being there and the opportunity I had, and
realised how lucky I was to represent the club.
But injuries hindered all of it. It was tough moving over to a different
country so young – I’d never been outside of Liverpool, to be honest.
I’d been living with my parents and then got thrown in at the deep end
to take everything in, so I struggled with that side of things. Everyone
thinks it’s as simple as going to play football, but there are so many
other factors. Everything rolls into one.
I was learning to speak German for a couple of months, but really
struggled with it – I felt like it was going in one ear and out the other.
That had an effect on communication and being involved in the squad,
appreciating the culture. One day, Andries Jonker [Bayern Munich II’s
manager] pulled me in and said, ‘We can see that you’re struggling
with the language, so we want you to concentrate on your football.
We all speak English so let’s do that’. But once I wasn’t picking up the
language, I felt like a bit of an outcast.
It was the same routine every day. I’d get up, go to training, come
home – eat, sleep, repeat. I didn’t have much of a social life. Without
much German, if I needed to ask for directions or something, I’d just
speak English – and while the majority of people would stop, some
wouldn’t. They’d walk past you, which was quite difficult.
I’d had some knee issues at Tranmere, but they weren’t much to be
concerned about at that time. When I’d done my medical at Bayern,
they’d actually failed me with a hernia on my groin, but we still got the
deal done. When I arrived, though, it was injury after injury: I’d come
back for three months, then do the ligaments in my ankle. I’d come
back five or six months later and my knee would go. It seemed never-
ending. Eventually when you’ve been injured for so long, the physio
asks if everything is all right and you start to say you’re fine, even if
you’re still feeling something. That’s probably down to being young,BETWEEn
THE LInESI was at Liverpool’s academy from the age of eight, and played in it
until I was 15. Back then, though, I’m not sure I really appreciated the
opportunity – it’s only after you leave that you look back and realise
how hard it is to get into a top club’s youth system. You just think, ‘I’m
a good player and I’m at Liverpool’s academy’. To be honest, when
I did leave there it was a bit of a relief, because I’d played religiously
for nearly all of my childhood. It was quite regimented playing for an
academy, so you missed out on a lot by being there. I know it sounds
strange, but I was sort of happy to be leaving so that I could enjoy
playing out with my mates again.
As a kid, I always felt like I was one of the better players in the age
group. I’d always done well and think Liverpool wanted to keep me
on, but my attitude wasn’t brilliant as a young lad and I took stuff
for granted. They were reluctant to let me go, but I think it was right
at the time. I took six months to a year out of football before a scout
at Liverpool, Arthur Edwards, contacted my parents and told them
that it was a waste of talent if I didn’t get back in. He got me trials at
Blackburn, Derby and Everton, but none of them signed me. The last
club that were willing to look at me was Tranmere. I went there on
a six-week trial, but after a week I’d signed a contract.
I took each day as it came at Tranmere. I’d signed as an under-16,
so my next target was to earn a scholarship because they don’t keep
many on – only a handful of kids. Then I moved into the youth team
and did a year. It all happened so fast: shortly before my second year
of the scholarship started, I got my chance to play for the first team.
I didn’t feel too out of place, either – it felt natural to be playing at
the age of 17. Obviously as a young man you’re still growing, but it
was good for me because I had the ability to be out there. I was out
there in front of a few thousand fans, so the adrenaline and everything70 June 2022 FourFourTwoClockwise from
below When it all
felt easy at Rovers;
“But it’s my debut,
ref...”; he’s turning
out at Prescot; yet
it could have been
for Pep at Bayern