Everton defender Ben Godfrey has revealed that being rejected by Leeds United 'stuck with him' - and provided the fuel to go on and succeed in the Premier League.
The 23-year-old, who arrived at Goodison Park from Norwich City for around £20million last summer, endured an unsuccessful trial at Elland Road while trying to make his way as a professional.
Now, after spells at York City, Shrewsbury (loan) and Carrow Road, Godfrey has even been tipped as an outside bet for an England call-up ahead of the delayed 2020 European Championships.
He is currently training with the under-21s ahead of their own tilt at glory on the continent.
It's a journey to the top which, like countless other players, has featured set-backs along the way - including being rejected by the likes of Barnsley and Middlesbrough. Trials with the Tykes and Leeds ended with Godfrey being told "he was no better than what was on the clubs' books".
Leeds are said to have added he should go and show them their judgment was wrong, a conversation that “stuck with” Godfrey.
Godfrey told Everton's official website: "I probably doubted myself when I was in and out of clubs - and did question whether it was for me.
"When you are younger and football is not going well, you forget about it, you are going out with friends and having fun.
"I was lucky my mindset switched at around 15 or 16.
"Something clicked - because of my own determination, not out of bitterness - and I thought; 'I'm going to prove clubs wrong and make them regret letting me go'."
Having been snapped up by the Minstermen, making his debut aged 17, it didn't take long for clubs higher up the English pyramid to take note, once again.
Norwich was the next stop for Godfrey - after just 12 senior appearances for York - and in four years at Carrow Road he scaled the highs of promotion to the Premier League, before the Canaries slipped back into the Championship last summer.
That paved the way for Everton to step in with £20m - and there is nowhere else the versatile defender would rather be.
He added: "When I came to play against Everton (with Norwich), you got a sense of how much everyone in that stadium cared - the club a massive part of their lives.
"Everything I stand for as a player and person matches with Everton, the fans and the club as a whole.
"I'm developing and learning with these players every day and the move has worked out perfectly. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else."
