David Brooks dreamed of playing in the Premier League, but it looked as if it might not happen for him when he was released by Manchester City in 2014 after a decade at the club.
Then he joined Sheffield United.
Impressing in the Championship, the Wales international was eventually signed by Bournemouth for £11.5m last summer and has seized his chance with both hands.
But, how did he arrive at this point? A once skinny, but ultimately talented player, Brooks is now starring against the top flight’s elite, with rumours that Manchester United are monitoring him.
talkSPORT.com looks at Brooks’ journey to the top…
“You’ve got to keep grounded, my mum and dad wouldn’t let me do that anyway, I think I’d get a clip around the ear,” Brooks said on his rise to becoming a Premier League footballer.
Chelsea could have done with Brooks’ parents in defence last Wednesday; it’s no exaggeration to say they probably would have done a better job stopping him. A clip would have at least resembled a challenge.
An assist and another goal, Brooks ran rings around Chelsea in the 4-0 win. It was the latest chapter in one of the season’s success stories.
It did not always look as if it would be this way, however. When, in 2014 aged 17, he was let go by City. Brooks, understandably, was disheartened.
“Getting released from City was a big step for me, to go and find a new club,” he told Sky Sports.
“I think it basically it teaches you that you don’t want that feeling again, obviously the devastation at the time.
“I didn’t leave on the best of terms – it was one of them: ‘Go and sort yourself out,’” he recalls. “Obviously there were a few tears and things like that, at 17. But you’ve just got to get on with it and dust yourself off.”
And he did. But his football was never an issue. The technical ability was evident, the flamboyance and skill also; it still is today, as is his slender build. No longer a concern, Brooks’ slight stature, he stood just 5ft 3in, once looked as if it may go against him.
“The questions we had were around his physicality,” then Sheffield United academy manager Neil Cox said. “He was two or three years behind in terms of his physical development. His shirt was hanging off him; his shorts were below his knees.
“He looked like a little boy. His ability to compete with boys of the same age was seriously impaired. It was about weighing up his qualities against the areas he needed help with.”
Five years on from his release by City as a teenager, Brooks has progressed rapidly.
A brief loan spell with Halifax Town was followed by 30 Championship appearances for the Blades, so too did his first senior goal – the winner against Leeds United in the Yorkshire Derby.
He was named in the England squad, 11 minutes after withdrawing from the Wales team, for the Toulon Tournament in 2017.
Brooks caught the eye, scored in the final and was named the competition’s best player, an award previously won by Alan Shearer, Thierry Henry and James Rodríguez.
Later that year, he made his senior debut for Wales – his mum being from Llangollen in North Wales.
Given Gareth Southgate’s penchant for giving youth a chance, the switch of allegiance is definitely England’s loss, but then Brooks’ hero is former Manchester United winger and current Wales manager Ryan Giggs. A picture of the pair shaking hands is the background on his Twitter account.
On the same page, his pinned tweet is a nutmeg on Sheffield Wednesday’s Jack Hunt. There is a five-minute YouTube video of the audacious trick on loop. That skill showcased his confidence and ability to a wider audience. Inevitably, his chance for bigger and better would come. The following July it did. A phone call from Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe caught Brook off guard.
“It was very weird. I can’t remember where I was but my agent just passed the phone over to me and said ‘oh yeah, that’s Eddie Howe’” Brook recalls.
“I was a bit surprised. There was a bit of nerves there, you want to say the right things and try and come across good yourself. It was a bit weird, but you just have to get used to that, haven’t you?”
The then 20-year-old midfielder eventually signed for £11.5million, a bargain in today’s inflated transfer market. His Premier League debut came against Cardiff following a series of impressive showings in pre-season.
“David deserved to start on the back of that performance and I was really pleased with his contribution,” Howe enthused.
“He’s young, yes, but he’s talented and I think you saw a glimpse of what his potential is. I’m really pleased with him.”
As the season progressed, so too has Brooks. A goal in a 2-1 win over Crystal Palace back in October earned him the club’s Player of the Month award, he also scooped the same accolade two months later. Each time he has scored, Bournemouth have won.
Now a sturdy 6ft, Brooks is far more robust, resilience to match the substance. The baby-faced look remains, stubble absent.
Tottenham are said to be preparing a £50m summer bid for Brooks, who was on their radar last year. Manchester United are also keen.
“Must be wishing they had signed David Brooks now…would have been the ideal fit,” tweeted journalist Alan Nixon.
Alongside Harry Kane, Dele Ali and Heung-Min Son, Brooks would certainly flourish.
In a time when young British talents are seeking solace in the Bundesliga – think Callum Hudson-Odoi and Jadon Sancho – it’s refreshing to see a club give a youngster the chance to play, to express himself without consequence.
Brooks has done so much in such a short space of time and if he has become big-headed, his parents would surely have forgiven him.