Former Liverpool youngster Samed Yesil has revealed he struggled with the attention from the media during his time at Anfield.
Yesil joined the Reds from Bayer Leverkusen in a £1.17m deal back in 2012, having impressed with the German side’s youth ranks, working his way up the club after arriving in 2005.
His time at Anfield would not be a successful one, though, as he managed just two first-team appearances before being released in 2016 following a loan spell with FC Luzern.
Since then he has played in both Germany and Turkey, and current finds himself turning out for VfB Homberg in the German fourth division.
That’s a steep fall for a player who once had his shot at the big time, and he admits there were various things he struggled with at Liverpool.
“As a young person it wasn’t easy to deal with the media,” he told fussball.de.
“I had to be careful how and above all,l what I say. All in all, not everything went well, I was loaned to FC Luzern in Switzerland last season.
“I was allowed to play a competitive game for the “Reds” in the cup competition against Swansea on Anfield. That will not be forgotten.”
While things may have been unsuccessful for Yesil on the pitch, that does not mean his short stint with Liverpool was a complete disaster.
His time at the club saw him rubbing alongside club legends such as Steven Gerrard and Luis Suarez, while the squad was also packed with world-class talent such as Philippe Coutinho, Roberto Firmino and numerous others as well.
Training alongside such high profile players is a big thing for young players, and Yesil was no different, while he also admits he learned plenty from simply being in and around a club that big.
“I only knew Steven Gerrard from television or the Playstation. It had taken me two to three weeks to realize all of this,” he added.
“Most of the Liverpool pros came up to me and were helpful. It was like a dream.
“Before every training session, I was always on the field two hours early to make a positive impression. The booth was empty, so I changed and went to the weight room.
“There were then at least twelve other Liverpool professionals lifting weights.
“It was then clear to me that you had to work a lot to stay at the top in the long term. I was impressed by the professional behaviour.”
