Sunderland loanee Jason Denayer has opened up about his colourful upbringing in Belgium in an interview given to theDaily Mail.
The 21-year-old is on loan at the Stadium of Light from Premier League high flyers Manchester City, and revealed that tough practice and proving people wrong enabled him to strive for his goal in becoming a professional football player.
Denayer grew up in Anneessens, a notoriously rougharea in Belgium. The prospect of crime and police visits proved to be enough motivation for the defender to move away from his dismal surroundings in order to begin his footballing education at JMG Academy at the tender age of 13.
Denayer began by reminiscing about his time at JMG, and the alternative measures the establishment took in their training programmes in order to give their graduates a rugged, humbled edge.
"The first time I went I took my football shoes. Then I saw the sign at the gates - no shoes, nothing." Said Denayer.
"I was like, "No shoes? Okay¦". It was very strange and at the start it hurts, a lot! When you play you break your toes, but my technique improved so much. So yes, it does work.
"I was told you play football for four hours each day. I was like, "Woah, I need to go there!",
"It is a mental challenge being away from your family,
"It helped that I was used to always being on the streets with my friends, but I saw children crying when they left their parents.
"Football wise, it was excellent for me, it helped me understand the game in a different way.
"But also things like homework and just getting by, everything was my responsibility. That made me grow up a lot."
Denayer then proceeded to shed some light on life in his childhood, claiming the desire to be more and do more spurred him on to greater feats.
"I was from a very poor part of Brussels, nobody wants to go there. If you say, "I'm from Anneessens", people look at you like, "Okay, is this guy going to steal something?". It was difficult to express myself.
"But with age I began to understand and I needed to show them.
"In time, people accepted me for being me.
"It is nice, though, that I have been able to move my mum and brothers out of there.
"For my mum, to see the police coming all day, every day, bad things happening, it was stressful."
Denayer then revealed his post trial breakfast, which may have hampered his first shot at gaining a professional contract, when he tried his chances at Liverpool.
"It was the first time I'd been to England. When you watch English movies, you see the English breakfast.
"I went to bed straight away at the hotel because I was so excited for breakfast. Everything they put down, I tried it - hash browns, sausages, bacon, eggs, bread.
"I thought we weren't training that day - but we were! I was like, Ah, s***�."
The Belgian gained his first professional contract at his parent club Manchester City, and after just one season with the club's youth squad, he earned himself the opportunity to ply his trade for Scottish side Celtic.
He continued to describe his daunting initiation at the Scottish champions: "When I got there they told me I needed to sing - wow, that was frightening. So I sang a Belgian song, that way they didn't know if I was making mistakes."
Denayer spent a second season away from the Etihad on loan at Turkishclub Galatasaray. He talks of the stark contrast in life between Istanbul and Glasgow.
"The whole of Turkey is obsessed with football and they are very aggressive,
"In the street you cannot walk 10 minutes without being stopped, especially with my haircut,
"In Glasgow it was nice, they talked football. But this was another step in growing up."
Pain seems to be a resounding factor in Denayer's short life. None more so than when Denayer discovered the loss of a close childhood friend and international colleague Junior Malanda- an ordeal which was sure to thicken the player's skin.
Denayer was away with Celtic in Spain when he found out about the tragedy via social media.
"I saw that a player had died on the road,
"Then I saw it was Junior¦ oh God,
"I knew him from when I was five,
"It was difficult, I could not think about anything else. He would have been a top player."
Denayer has been described as the next Vincent Kompany back in Belgium.
The notion of replacing Kompany at the heart of Manchester City and Belgium's defence may be flattering, however the centre-back remained grounded in his ambition, and is preparing himself for a Premier League dog-fight with Sunderland to ensure their status in the top flight.
"The comparison is a compliment, of course," he declares.
"But I am Jason Denayer. I do not know what will happen in the future at Manchester City, all I can do is my best for Sunderland.
"We all believe we will stay up, that will make the difference. We are fighting to survive and I will give everything for that."
The travelled Belgian prospect has been scrapping and toiling his entire young life, so he's no stranger to a battle. If he's performing for the Black Cats - who knows where his developing career will end up.