Liverpool’s Nathaniel Clyne has admitted that back when he was young, he had trials with several top clubs, including Arsenal.

The defender signed from Southampton in July and has since gone on to feature in all four of Liverpool’s opening matches.

However, the 24-year-old could have had a very different future after revealing he had a trial with us when he was a kid, in which he scored four goals.

“Scouts were coming to my local club and I had trials at top clubs,” said Clyne.

“Arsenal was one of them and I scored four goals. I was a striker but I was only seven or eight. It was then, though, that I started thinking I could have a football career.”

The defender continued, “I signed for Tottenham as an academy player and I was there from the age of 10 to 13.

“But the travel from school was a problem. I had to go all the way from Essex and that wasn’t ideal from South London. Mum didn’t drive and we had to take the train. So I decided to go ­somewhere closer – Crystal Palace – which was just around the corner.

“So I was a Palace product really.”

It’s hard to say whether Clyne would have been the type of player that could feature in our current Arsenal team if he had joined our academy instead of Spurs’. However, the defender went on to have a decent run at Southampton, making over 100 appearances during his time there, and also featured 137 times for Crystal Palace before that, so there’s probably not much regret from his point of view.

Also, the amount of current players who probably had trials with us when they were children is probably surprisingly high.