I Could Have Ended Up On The Streets If ..., Says Former Ghana Star Quincy Owusu-Abeyie

Former Ghana winger, Quincy Owusu-Abeyie has revealed that he owes his football career to Arsenal who gave him the platform to exhibit his talent.

The skilful pacy forward joined Arsenal from the Ajax academy in 2003 and went on to make only five senior appearances for the Gunners in his three years at the club.

“If it wasn’t for Arsenal, maybe I would have led definitely a different life,” Quincy told The Athletic. “Maybe I would have just a normal nine to five, maybe I would have been a street guy, I don’t know… but fortunately I got that phone call.

“I was born and raised in Amsterdam. Bijlmermeer is the area — it’s basically the ‘hood. It wasn’t easy. Sometimes you might be on the block and you might hear a gunshot, or you might hear that someone got stabbed. When I got that phone call, I said ‘Arsenal? Who doesn’t want to play for Arsenal?!

“That moment when I met Arsene Wenger is when it sort of sank in when I realised… It’s not on TV anymore. So I looked at my agent, and my agent looked at me, and it was like, ‘Boy… I gotta get the job done'.”