David Ornstein has revealed that he had a trial at a current Premier League club before he became a journalist.
The Athletic journalist has earned a reputation as one of world football's most reliable journalists, often breaking transfer news and other high-profile stories before anyone else.
Prior to joining The Athletic in 2019, Ornstein worked as a correspondent at the BBC.
Apart from that, the public know very little about his life outside of football - he doesn't even have a Wikipedia page.
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But speaking on the Dwight and Friends podcast, alongside Manchester United icon Dwight Yorke, Premier League veteran Kevin Davies and Daily Mirror assistant editor Darren Lewis, Ornstein opened up about his background outside of journalism - and how he trialled at one football club.
The club in question was none other than Chelsea, where Ornstein spent a year before it was ultimately decided that playing professionally was not going to be for him.
He explained: "I only knew to graft. I had no academic intelligence - I failed very badly at school exams, because all I wanted to do was play football.
"I was on trial for a year at Chelsea, and my mind was set on becoming a Premier League footballer or a professional athlete.
"Then I saw relatives, brothers, cousins getting top results and going to university. I was thinking, 'What on earth am I going to do here?'
"At one point, I was a waiter at Pizza Hut in my spare time from school. But I just thought, you have to work harder.
"If you have one of academic intelligence or hard work - some people are blessed with both, I'm not unfortunately - but the graft or hard work will always get you somewhere. If you don't cut corners, and if you manage to apply yourself, believe it or not you can work harder than everyone else if you want to, then it can take you a long way."
Topics: David Ornstein, Football, Premier League
Ryan Smart