Gifted George hungry to climb ladder

FULLY FOCUSED . . . George Green is determined to succeed in an Athletic shirt.

George Green is aiming for stardom second time round.

Athletic’s bright, bustling young gun has been talked about for years but is still only 19.

Transferred to Everton at the age of 15 from Bradford City for a fee potentially reaching £2million, life as a Premier League pup didn’t work out for the midfield tyro.

It was all due to his own failings, he says. And Green is determined to make it back to the top level of the game.

“It came down to my attitude,” says Green, an engaging and honest talker with deep Yorkshire vowels, when asked why Everton didn’t work out for him. “I wasn’t focused enough there. It wasn’t to do with me not being good enough. When it came down to it, it was time to move on from that club and make a fresh start somewhere else to climb back up to the top level.

“I wish it had worked out better. I wish I had got my head down a bit more. But you don’t know what you have got till it’s gone sometimes. This is a new chapter in my career. And I really am so happy to be here. I’m willing to do whatever it takes to get myself back up there.”

Being labelled as the new Wayne Rooney invites pressures Green admits were difficult to cope with.

“It was very hard,” he said. “I felt I always had to perform. If I didn’t perform as well as I could in one game, or didn’t make the grade there — which I haven’t — I knew people would say certain things.

“Coming to Oldham is another step in my career for the good. I am stepping down to League One and want to push on. Then down the line if I can get a move again, to a higher level, then that is what I am pushing on to do.”

On the training field, Green’s zest for the game is abundant. As a product of the St John Fisher rugby league-playing school in Dewsbury, he is a tough nugget — a determined playground dynamo, all rough edges and break-time brilliance.

His new boss Darren Kelly’s task is to make the most of Green’s free-spiritedness on the field.

He has no regrets over going to Prenton Park as the club slid into non-league, nor his move down the ladder to Athletic: “It was interesting at Tranmere,” he said. “The team was fighting relegation it was tough going, but I needed that experience and I am glad I got it.”

Green doesn’t expect to waltz into Athletic’s starting line-up at Walsall on Saturday: “There’s a lot of competition here. The bottom line is that it’s about working hard? If someone is out of the team, you have to take their position and make sure once you have it, you keep it.”

First League One, then the world. There are no guarantees in football, but George Green has plenty on his plate and an appetite for success.