Former Liverpool attacker Yan Dhanda dreaming big after switching Anfield for Swansea and scoring 29 seconds into senior debut
Three Lions youth international, who was the first player of Indian descent to sign a full time contract with the Reds, chose to leave Anfield this summer to further his career
AS SICK notes at school go, saying you had to miss lessons to attend training with Steven Gerrard, Philippe Coutinho, Mario Balotelli and Daniel Sturridge is not a bad one to pull.
The days of making his schoolmates envious are long gone for Yan Dhanda though, now aged 19. So too are most of that training group – Sturridge the only one left standing at Liverpool.
Attacking midfielder Dhanda was the latest to depart Anfield this summer, opting to leave behind the sanctuary of the Reds after five years to drop down into the Championship with Swansea City.
It was a move that left raised eyebrows in some quarters. Contemporaries Trent Alexander-Arnold, Ben Woodburn, Rhian Brewster and James Wilson were all getting their chances in the first team. Manager Jurgen Klopp was also a fan.
But Dhanda, the first player of Indian descent to sign a full time contract at Liverpool, is very much his own man. And will take the path he wants it seems.
This is an individual who earned himself a trial at Chelsea after winning the Under-11 player of the tournament award at the club’s Search for an Asian Star competition in 2010, only to turn it down to stay closer to his family.
Confidence does not seem to be a problem for Birmingham-born Dhanda, who is building a reputation as a versatile and creative midfielder, primarily out on the left wing but comfortable in the number 10 role.
He plumped for Bob Marley’s Three Little Birds as his initiation song at Swansea, a tune which includes the famous line ‘don’t worry about a thing. Cause every little thing is gonna be alright.’
A rather fitting premonition, considering his competitive Swans debut which saw him step off the bench and then sweep home the winner against Sheffield United within 29 seconds.
Not that it came as a surprise to Dhanda, who lists Ronaldinho as his idol and wants to try and replicate the performances of former attacking midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson for Welsh club Swansea.
He said: "It was a bit crazy. It’s all a bit of a blur at the moment but I was imagining it all day, coming on and scoring.
"I knew I wasn’t going to start and I knew I’d be on the bench. So all day in the hotel room, I’ve imagined coming on and scoring, replaying it over and over again.
"When the chance came, I sprinted to get into the box – it fell to me, and that was it. It was like it had happened before, but it seems like a dream now.";
For those following Swansea's pre-season, Dhanda's goalscoring heroics did not come as a complete suprise.
Many thought he would spend his early time at the club with the under-23s given his young age.
But his energetic performances and willingness to run with the ball caught the eye in the build up to the new campaign and suggested he could be a part of manager Graham Potter's first-team plans.
The budding new star may not have made a first team appearance for Liverpool before moving to Swansea on a free transfer but he already has international honours, representing England at under-16 and under-17 level.
He is also still eligible to represent India. But the midfielder, winner of the up-and-coming player category at the Asian Football Awards in 2013, has nailed his colours to the England mast and wants to match close pal’s Alexander-Arnold in representing the Three Lions at senior level.
He said: "We’re quite close and I hope I can follow him, do what he’s doing. To play for England is my dream."
Dreams about a goalscoring Swansea debut, dreams about England. Who says he won’t go on to achieve both.