By Iarla Muldoon
“There’s not much more I could do” - Dressing Room Joker Michael Obafemi on scoring 11 goals in one game for the youth squad and getting released as a young teen.
Michael Obafemi opened up about academy heartbreak and his clear strive for proving the doubters wrong on Thursday morning’s OTB AM.
The 18 year-old was scouted by Watford FC at an early age.
They didn’t see enough promise in the Dublin born teenager however, and he was released while still a young teenager.
“I don’t remember much about it. I just remember my parents telling me that I had been released”
“They actually didn’t say anything to me personally, they said it to my parents on the phone,' said Obafemi.
It’s clear that Michael’s release from Watford before the age of 14 never sat well with him.
Even as he reminisces about scoring 11 goals in one game for the Hornets’ academy side, he chuckles and it’s clear that he knows himself, who came out the better.
He has now become Southampton’s youngest ever Premier League after scoring against Huddersfield in December and it’s only up from here for the young striker.
Eoin Sheahan put it to him that, evidently Watford had got it wrong.
Obafemi responded with his natural, tongue-in-cheek guile.
- “They clearly got it wrong”
- “Yeah. Well I mean… Clearly.”
If just one word could give supporters an insight in to Michael Obafemi’s personality and his confident nature it was this one:
“Clearly”, followed by a laugh that says “they know they missed out”.
Michael admits maybe it was his off-field antics that cost him his place in Watford.
“I mean, I was a bit mischievous but I don’t think that had a part in it really,' laughed Obafemi.
When questioned about his antics, Michael explains it was “just silly stuff” proudly admitting that he was probably the “classroom joker”.
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