Crystal Palace midfielder, Ebere Eze, has revealed he was left in tears after Arsenal rejected him as a youngster.
Eze was let go by the Gunners when he was 13.
Now 22, he has impressed since making a £17million move to Palace from Queens Park Rangers in August.
However, success did not come easy for Eze, who thought he would make it big with the Gunners when he signed for them before his 16th birthday.
“I got scouted by a few clubs and that’s when I first went to Arsenal,” he told Premier League Productions.
“At a young age, it was hard, especially being released. Me and my mum cried, everyone was so upset – that’s all you know at that age.
“But looking back at it now, that’s the start of my journey and I’m grateful to God that’s how it went. If it wasn’t for that, I may not have got the resilience, bravery, to go and be who I want to be elsewhere. It’s shaped me to be who I am today.”
Eze played for Reading, Fulham and Millwall before joining QPR having left north London
