Black Stars striker Jordan Ayew has admitted that as a child, he had no desire to become a professional player.
According to him, he preferred to only play with his mates and only began to take football seriously when he was 10 years old.
Ayew further revealed that, despite coming from a family association with generations of footballers, his parents never forced him to play football.
Rather, the Crystal Palace forward said, they encouraged and supported him and his brothers to do whatever they wanted.
“My parents always told us we should do whatever makes us happy, and they will be behind us,” Ayew said, as quoted by Crystal Palace’s official website.
“They will tell us the truth, be honest with us and make sure we grow well. They just wanted us to be happy.”
He added: “I was playing football but I didn’t really want to play competitively in my youth. I was always playing with my friends from our area and against other areas, and that was fine by me. I just wanted to be with my friends after school, I didn’t want to go to practice. Just to live a normal life.”
“Then I got to a certain age when I was 10 where I joined an Under-12s team in my area, and I think that’s where the real love for the game started for me.”
Ayew is set to continue at Selhurst Park next season after recently signing a one-year contract extension.
