At 23 years of age, Javairô Dilrosun might have a lovely CV on paper, but the Dutchman’s career so far leaves a lot to be desired.
Having come through Ajax’s academy, the winger has also been with Manchester City (but it could have been Chelsea) and Hertha Berlin before joining Girondins Bordeaux on loan this season, who have an option to make the move permanent if they so wish.
With just 61 professional appearances to his name, the forward has been looking for regular minutes, which he is hoping to find in the south of France this year.
Never breaking through at Manchester City despite spending four years there, Dilrosun isn’t bitter about choosing a move to the Etihad instead of heading to Stamford Bridge, believing snubbing the Blues was the right thing to do at the time, explaining as much to Sud-Ouest.
He sat down with the French newspaper to talk about a number of things, including his decision to leave Holland for the Premier League.
He said: “Ajax asked me to wait an extra year before signing professional. I didn’t want to. When you’re a good player, you are meant to sign. The club knew that I had the level, but they didn’t put in the required effort. They asked me to stay in the same team when I’d played well with the group above.
“Two clubs approached me. Manchester City and Chelsea. I chose City where there was a new project. They had just built a new youth setup. I felt it was the best choice for me”.
Following his transfer, though, things didn’t quite go to plan: “I would have liked (to play for the first-team), but there were so many great players ahead of me, like Kevin de Bruyne and David Silva. It wasn’t easy to make a spot for yourself when you’re young.
“I wouldn’t say it was frustrating, but the last season, I was performant, and they told me that if I didn’t sign an extension, I wouldn’t be in the first-team, nor in game or trainings. And I wanted to go higher, so I decided to leave”.
That’s where Hertha Berlin came in, promising him some game time, and where he has featured the most in his career.
The former Manchester City player has appeared 59 times for the Bundesliga side, scoring six goals and assisting another eight.
Perhaps things might have been different if he’d chosen Chelsea over the move to Manchester, but considering the loan factory that Stamford Bridge has been over the years, his decision to leave Holland for England might have backfired either way.
We’ll never know, but, now, as he made clear in the interview, he no longer wants to be talent, simply a ‘good player’.
