Britain has talent: Jose in the hunt for one special kid
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JAMIE REDKNAPP: I'm joining Jose in the hunt for one special kid who can shine at Inter
Special one: Mourinho invited some of the hopefuls to join in with first-team training at Inter Milan
It started with trials for 7,000 boys, but how do you find a young player good enough for Jose Mourinho? Where do you start looking in these shores, among a group of boys some of whom had been rejected by Plymouth, Port Vale and Bristol City?
An £8million villa on Lake Como, a seat at the Milan fashion show ... and ultimately a contract with Inter Milan and Jose awaited the winner.
Britain has talent: now the search begins?
For Football’s Next Star, I was given the job of mentoring the chosen 10, the elite group picked by Mourinho’s coaching sidekicks at trials across the country.
The programme reminds me of how privileged young players are who have already been signed by clubs in England. I wonder if they know how lucky they are.
Kids here want the football lifestyle. They want the salary, the clothes, the cars. But how hungry are they? How many of them are staying behind after training to work on technique, individual skills and ball control?
The best footballers are the most dedicated, like Ryan Giggs.
In the show there were plenty of tears and a reminder of the sacrifices people make to try to live their dream.
One dad, who is serving in the army in Germany, brought his son over to one of the trials in front of Mourinho’s coaches. He didn’t make it.
Another lad questioned if Inter were big enough for him! He didn’t get through, either.
Watching from the sidelines, I wondered if parents want it more than some of the boys and give them false hope.
If their children make it in professional football, it will change the lives of their families, too. But is that enough of an incentive?
We discovered 10 players good enough to take to Italy to work with Inter. Telling others, especially the 10 who didn’t make it through the final stages, was the hard part. The haunting look in their eyes showed their pain.
When we arrived in Italy, Mourinho was waiting. Inter have a coffee bar at their training ground, a chef who cooks for the first team and a dressing room of stars.
One day, Jose came over to our group and said: ‘I need two of you to train with the first team.’ It made me wish I’d taken my boots.
They were all there; Patrick Vieira, Samuel Eto’o, Maicon, Lucio ... and two kids who had the chance to show The Special One how special they were, too.
It’s always an education to see the top coaches in action — Mourinho was in the thick of it, taking control of his first team and preparing them for battle. It made me wish I had played for one of his teams, because it was a chance to see first-hand the difference he makes.
The Premier League will be a better place if — and when — he comes back.
For the kids, this wasn’t just about playing well, but playing under pressure. Every five days, someone else had to be sent home.
First, a player finds himself in the Danger Zone ... then came the time to tell him the dream was over.
I’m pleased that since the disappointment of being sent home, a couple of the boys have got trials with English clubs.
One player in the 10 was sensational, but we soon discovered that he couldn’t handle being away from home. It was very sad
It reminded me how much of making it is luck. Football’s a hard game, getting there is even harder. Only a privileged few get to have a career and Football’s Next Star shows the possibilities — and the pain.
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Seems like he had just snapped up some of the brightest from England through this.