Alex Lozowski could have been pulling the strings for Harry Kane or even £65million man Alvaro Morata.
Instead, the England rugby playmaker ran out at Twickenham on Saturday, scoring a try as England went on to thump Samoa.
After coming through the Chelsea youth system – following an under-9s trial at Arsenal alongside Spurs man Kane – midfielder Lozowski was dumped by Carlo Ancelotti at 16.
He then turned his back on the beautiful game and headed for the oval office to become a rugby star like his dad Rob.
“When I got released by Chelsea I basically stopped playing football and started taking rugby more seriously,” he told the Sun.
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“Looking back now, I don’t think I was ever good enough to make it in the Premier League.
“I was good enough to get by for six years and when they started giving out contracts and people were going full-time that was when Chelsea told me: ‘Thanks, but no thanks.’
“I was in the team with Josh McEachran and also Adam Gemili – the sprinter. Up until 16 it was all about football and that was the sport I wanted to play.
“But when it did end I was happy to leave it behind. If I had stayed at Chelsea I would have had to have left home, maybe joined another team and it could have been anywhere. I didn’t want to leave school either.
“My dad is a big Spurs fan and I also had trials at Arsenal. Harry Kane was in that same team as me and he was released by Arsenal too and I ended up playing against him for the under 15s at Chelsea. It’s pretty funny how it all turns out.
“At Sarries we all have a laugh and a joke about it. Everyone’s had trials somewhere, so they say, anyway!”