Yves Bissouma fought through tears to complete his dream of becoming a Premier League star, thanks to a Manchester City legend.
Tottenham star Bissouma might now be a first-team regular under Ange Postecoglou but it has been a difficult path after leaving behind his home and family before he was even a teenager in pursuit of his dream.
At 12, the Ivory Coast-born ace joined the Jean-Marc Guillou Academy in Mali where he felt homesick every day. But he pushed on ahead, fighting tears along the way.
Speaking to talkSPORT ahead of Tottenham’s Premier League clash with Newcastle on Saturday, live on talkSPORT, Bissouma spoke candidly about the struggles he experienced when trying to realise his dream.
He told Ian Abrahams: “It was hard because I was young and I left my parents to go to the academy in Mali, it wasn’t easy. I left my parents to go alone.
“I was always thinking about my family, I was crying when I was talking to my mum and dad on the phone.
“I was crying because I missed mum and dad a lot, I was with them every day and when I moved there I called them and just the voice and that’s it.
“My mum was not around to cook food for me, my dad was not there to give me what I want.
“It was really hard because I was young as well, I was 12 to 13.
“After, I put in my head, ‘Okay Biss, you can live your dream, if you believe you can be who you want to be so stop crying and walk out and be who you want to be’.”
For aspiring footballers in their early years, it helps to have a role model – and they do not come much better than City legend Yaya Toure.
The Ivorian played for eight years at the Etihad Stadium where he became a club icon, leading them to three Premier League titles in 2012, 2014 and 2018, as well as winning the FA Cup in 2011.
But it was his 2013/14 season that would write Toure’s name into Premier League folklore after a barnstorming campaign where he scored 20 times at a time when Bissouma was still developing in an academy.
Only Frank Lampard has scored more in a single Premier League campaign from midfield when he netted 22 in 2009/10 and, for many, Toure is among the best midfielders to ever play in the top tier.
It was no wonder that for Bissouma, a budding midfielder himself at the time, the former City and Barcelona star was such an inspiration.
He added: “When I was young I really liked Yaya Toure. I was watching all of his games when he was at City.
“I was really happy to watch it and I was like, ‘Okay, one day I can be like him, I want to play in the Prem’.
“Everyone knows that the Premier League is one of the best leagues in the world. Every player wants to play in the Prem.
“When I was young, I was dreaming to play in the Premier League and today I play in the Prem, so I am really happy!”
Bissouma was picked up by Brighton and their incredible scouting department in 2018 and went on to become one of the biggest young stars in the division.
Tottenham then snapped up the Mali international in 2022 but he initially struggled to convince then-manager Antonio Conte of a spot in the starting XI.
However, now he is flourishing under Postecoglou, who has given the 27-year-old more responsibility partnering Pape Matar Sarr in midfield.
News Summary:
- Yves Bissouma was inspired by Man City legend but ‘tough’ dream saw homesickness and tears
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