Dutch born Ghanaian forward Manny Duku has hinted that he nearly quit football in his teens due to frustrations.
Duku who joined Scottish championship outfit Raith Rovers this summer and has so far netted twice in two games mentioned that his move to Hereenveen was canceled when he was 18 years and it nearly ended his career.
“For whatever reason, it didn’t go through. That was my first real setback in life. My first step into
professional football was being blocked at the age of 18.” He told Daily record
“Effectively, my old club were saying I’d gone to Heerenveen behind their back.
“That put me in a bad light and Heerenveen saw it as a negative.
“They decided they didn’t want to work with someone who was giving them a bad name.
“It was a horrible feeling as I felt I’d done nothing wrong.
“A few days before the cancellation my manager had said everything was sorted. I was doing well there.
“But when I got the news it was the worst feeling ever for a young player. I’d worked hard to achieve something like that.
“I ended up playing low-level football in Holland, moving from club to club. I was basically just playing with my friends. At that point I had given up on football.
“I didn’t have ambition any more. I felt as if I’d been robbed of what could have been a career. So I gave up trying to be a footballer.
“I was studying sport management, and playing football as a hobby. I was hoping to start my own business in sport because being a footballer didn’t look possible at that stage.” He added.
The 27-year-old centre-forward who was born in Amsterdam to Ghanaian parents is yet to be capped by the Dutch or West African country at any level.
