Freckleton was on the books at Bristol Rovers until the age of 14, opting to leave after learning of interest from Wolves and Stoke City.

He recalls an agent talking about a potential big move.

“He came across to me and my mum and said ‘we know a lot of clubs want you. If you leave Rovers, we’ll take you to these clubs and you’ll be signed in no time’,” Freckleton says.

“We had a meeting and I left them.”

The teenager had a £50,000 compensation fee on his head.

“Me and my mum being naive, we [thought] we’re going to be sorted because I’m going to Wolves or wherever.”

After a couple of trial sessions at Wolves coincided with Freckleton falling ill, he was left without a club.

He says he was “kind of left with nothing” – and he could see the compensation factor was likely to be off-putting.

“You’re not really going to pay that money for a kid.”

Freckleton was in limbo and ended up at the Bristol Inner City Academy and later attended South Gloucestershire and Stroud College (SGS).

Antoine Semenyo, who is now playing at the highest level for Manchester City and is a few years older than Freckleton, also attended SGS.

Freckleton played at a good level in youth football and managed a handful of games as a teenager for local non-league side Mangotsfield United. At the time, they were in the seventh tier of English football.

“Even at that age, he was one of the tallest players, the quickest,” said Matt Curry, who coached Freckleton at the Bristol Inner City Academy and is now Mangotsfield’s assistant manager.

“I certainly thought he would go on to have a career in the game.”



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