Aaron Wan-Bissaka has said becoming a Manchester United player is reward for all the effort he and his family made in what was a tough upbringing.
The 21-year-old grew up in New Addington, south London, not far from Crystal Palace’s Selhurst Park stadium and signed for his local club at the age of 11.
Wan-Bissaka admitted that as a teenager in the area, he could have been tempted to go down the wrong path, but is grateful to his father and to the staff at Palace for keeping him on the road to becoming a Premier League footballer.
"I went through all the teenage stuff, where you don’t see the pathway and do things without thinking, but Palace and my dad, Ambrose, snapped me out of it," he told The Guardian on a visit to his old primary school, Good Shepherd.
"He’s always been a guiding light: 'Keep going, work hard, things will turn.' "
He says moving to Old Trafford from Palace is something his whole family can take pride in.
"I can see that I have made them proud with this decision and where I have come from, how the journey started, and that makes me kick on and carry on," he told Man Utd’s official website.
"We stick together and we make decisions on everything.
"I think they know what is right for me and that is the decision I will make.
"It’s a good moment, especially for where we have come from, you know this tough journey up until now. It’s a good feeling."