Oxford United midfielder Alex Gorrin says you could see Jordan Pickford's obvious talent from a very early age.
Gorrin, who spent five years in Sunderland's academy from the age of 15, was a year older than the England number one, but regularly played with him as Pickford regularly played a year above his age group because of his standard.
Gorrin, born in Tenerife, Spain, told the Mirror: "From sunny Tenerife to cold Sunderland! At the time Sunderland were in the Premier League and it was a great opportunity.
“I played with Jordan there. He always played above his age, so he was with us most of the time. You could see from early doors, he was a really good player.”
Pickford would of course go on to become Sunderland's number one before leaving for Everton for a fee which would rise to £30million and is now England's first choice goalkeeper.
Gorrin, meanwhile, who captained Sunderland's youth sides, took a very different path. Released by Sunderland aged 20 in 2014 without making a first team appearance, the midfielder moved to Australia and joined Wellington Phoenix.
From there he had spells with Boavista in Portugal, Sepsi in Romania and Motherwell in Scotland before joining Oxford United this past summer.
The 26-year-old ironically made his first senior appearance in English football against Sunderland when he played in the opening day 1-1 draw at the Stadium of Light, completing 90 minutes against the side whose academy he came through again in October, this time helping his side to a penalty shoot-out victory in the Carabao Cup.
Although he didn't take a penalty in the decisive shoot-out, Gorrin played a key role from defensive midfield in ensuring Oxford kept Phil Parkinson's side at bay for a lot of the clash.
That win took Oxford into the quarter final of the cup, where they will now meet Manchester City at the Kassam Stadium. He admits he's looking forward to coming up against David Silva in particular, with the City star from Las Palmas, a Canary Island neighbour of Tenerife.
“It would be brilliant to play against David. He’s such a great player because he has so much quality," Gorrin said.
“It’s not just David, Man City have a lot of quality, world-class players.
“It’s a one-off game. No-one expects us to win, but it’s the cup and anything can happen.”
