Mohammed Kudus not only dreamed of the Premier League, he dragged himself there.
The man signed by Tottenham for £ 55 million had to overcome pain, setbacks and the kind of adversity that can imagine the most.
Kudus grew up in Nima, one of the most difficult neighborhoods in Accra, Ghana.
Tin -roof houses built in the 1800s, markets that never sleep, and a crushing lack of opportunities – that was the reality of Kudus.
Staggered and poverty surrounded him.
Bashiru Mohammed Zakari is the vice -chairman of Strong Towers, Kudus' first football club and told Sunsport in an exclusive interview: “Options are limited for many NIMA children.
“Football has become an escape for most. When he (Kudus) came to us, he hardly spoke.
“He would spend hours with his friends and you wouldn't hear a word from him. But there was something else about him, quiet, yes. Timid? No chance.”
He would go to school in the morning, count down the hours and race to Montreal Park – a rough piece of fabric now gone, Bulldozed to make way for the National Mosque in Accra.
That park was where he put in the transplant, that is where the hunger grew.
Zakari added: “I remember how we pick it up, as if it were yesterday. He was really lucky that we didn't have our own academy, so we organized games with Right to Dream Academy, and that's where they saw him.”
At the age of only 13, Kudus was arrested by the right to Dream Academy, but even things were not flexible there.
Mas-in Didi Dramani, the first coach who put him under the right to dream exclusively, Sunsport said in an interview of his base in Accra: “He was very shy.
“I think Kudus is a very determined football player. We had him on our radar for a while, but it was only when we played against his local team that we decided to bring him in.
“He was only about 13 to 14 years old. Our role was not only to develop them as football players, but also to ensure that they grew like better people.
“I remember that he is joining for the first time, like most teenagers, he wanted to make an impression. But one thing stood out for me.
“It was when he broke his thumb and was in a cast, but still worked with the group.
“I still remember those moments and how mentally tough and stable he was, playing with a cast on his hand.”
On the right to dream his talent was clear, but also the confusion about where he actually had to play him.
One week he was box-to-box, the next floating wide. A click of all trades. It took time, patience and trust before he took his true identity.
When FC Nordsjaelland, the sister club of the Academy in Denmark, came to call, Kudus packed his bags and went.
But the challenge was not just on the field. It was all, from cold weather and strange food to no friends and no family.
Dramani says: 'I remember that I spoke with him and told him it will be difficult before it gets better.
“But one thing I can say is to remember how far you got, remember how you used to play with a broken thumb and when the manager gives you five minutes, shows him that you earn ten.
“If you have ten, work 20.
“In Europe you get what you work for and it worked, he was a sensation in Denmark, and it wasn't long before Ajax came to call.”
The move to Ajax brought him closer to his Premier League dream.
But just when things looked up, they came down again.
Everton came in in 2022 with a serious offer. Kudus wanted it, the Premier League was there for the taking and he went to play under Frank Lampard, but Ajax said no.
Just like that, the deal was dead, even worse, she froze him from the team. Yet he did not moan and did not throw a drift shower.
He just went with it and later told the Dutch Outlet De Telegraaf: “The fact that Ajax blocked a transfer to Everton last time, disappointed me.
“I thought it was time for a new chapter in my career because I didn't play here. But the moment the transfer window closed, my full focus shifted back to Ajax.”
That is the kind of explanation that Kudus defines, he believes that life is like a bicycle and the only way to maintain balance is to keep kicking.
So when the West Ham movement came, he jumped on it and moved to East London.
His first season was sensational, 14 goals in all competitions, 20 goal contributions, two bicycle kicks among them and that solo run and a brilliant finish against Freiburg in Europe.
But in the second season, everything again-stretched five goals faded, a huge drop and although he still tried the most take-on of a player in the competition, he was simply not the same energetic all-action ahead that would be on the advertising board after a goal.
But for a boy who grew up in Nima's chaos, struggled in the Danish cold and fought his way back after the heartache in Amsterdam, he believes that a move to Spurs with him presents a chance and platform to show his absolutely best.
For Spurs – where Kudus could make an uncomfortable first meeting – they get a player who is an absolute change of the game, a head start from your chair player who can be in the right environment of world class and has a dynamite shot.
Kudus has taken a long way – and has now offered the opportunity to show his talent in the Champions League – he can go even further.