Ex-Man City starlet Abdul Razak: I've learnt from my mistakes and now I'm starting my career again in Sweden
When Abdul Razak was a promising youngster at Manchester City he relied on Kolo Toure to provide fatherly advice and for his wife to ensure he was fed.
Now Razak has become a father himself, he has seen the error of his ways, which saw his career stall since making his Manchester City debut aged just 18 in 2011.
Roberto Mancini saw Razak as his most outstanding prospect at the club and gave him a number of opportunities to shine in the first team.
Now, six years later, the Ivory Coast international has just signed a three-year deal with IFK Gothenburg after short spells with Doncaster, Crete and Swedish second division side AFC United.
Razak realises he should have done better and is the first to acknowledge a litany of mistakes, from bad moves to falling out with managers, but since his daughter was born 14 months ago, things have started looking up for the midfielder.
“When you’re a father, that changes things a lot. I was naïve before and doing some stuff that I wasn’t meant to, but I’ve learned from my mistakes, so I’m glad now I’m back to football and I just want to let my feet talk on the pitch," Razak told ITV News.
It's been a long journey for the Ivorian, who moved to London as a youngster, where he played for the Crystal Palace youth set-up before City came calling.
City were eager to get him, enlisting some of their big guns to ensure Rasak made the move north, making their lure irresistible.
“Before coming to Man City, I had the chance to sign for Crystal Palace, which is where I started, but Man City spoke to Kolo Toure and he phoned me and he was the biggest influence on my decision to go to Man City. Emmanuel Abebayor also called me and they were both big players from Africa wanting me to sign for Man City. I was always with them and they were a big help and they were always really good with me."
Settling into a new city was tough for Razak, who missed his roots in Ivory Coast and south-east London where he had plenty of friends, leaving him to rely on the influence of the Toure brothers and Adebayor for advice and some homecooking.
“He [Kolo Toure] was giving me advice, but I was struggling with the food, as I was living in digs and didn’t like the food so much; I wanted to eat African food, so whenever I was starving, I’d call him and he would tell me to come to his house for his wife’s food.
"So him or Adebayor would pick me up and take me to their house, I would eat and they would take me back home. It wasn’t easy for me at that time, as I was by myself, but they would always give me advice and encouragement. I was always with them and whenever they had a game I would go and watch it in their box. I was looking to them as I was trying to break into the first team, and they always gave me support."
Mrs Toure's cooking did the trick, as it spurred Razak on in the club's academy where he was a leading starlet. Mancini was incredibly impressed with his performances for the youth teams and kept his eye on the teenager until he was eligible to play for the first team.
“Mancini is the only manager to give me a chance and pushed me to break into the first team. I remember when we met, I was 17 and playing in the academy, he came to watch me and was asking "who is this player?" and they told him I didn’t have my work permit at that time and I wasn’t eligible to play and then when I got my work permit when I was 18, he threw me straight into the first team squad.
"I got my work permit one day and the next I got called up to go with the first team to Birmingham for the Carling Cup and then the following week we played West Brom in the league and I was on the bench. We were winning 3-0 and he sent me on instead of David Silva and I thought ‘wow’."
The midfielder would go on to play ten times for Manchester City before the arrival on Manuel Pellegrini, which saw the end of his time at the Etihad.
Under Mancini he was sent out on loan on three occasions to Portsmouth, Brighton and Charlton, but wasn't at any club long enough to get a run of games.
At Brighton, he fell out with manager Gus Poyet and was recalled early from his spell at the Valley, where he had worked closely with Chris Powell, leaving Razak frustrated.
Pellegrini made it clear to those who wouldn't be afforded the chance to shine under the Chilean and Razak was quickly sold to Anzhi Makhachkala, who were in turmoil at the time.
“When I went to Russia they were the only club interested in me and they made a bid for me and then I thought I’d give it a go, as they were in the Europa League. It was a bit tougher, but I wanted to play football, as I love the game. I just closed my eyes when I went there and after six months the owner decided to change the club, so I came back to England to West Ham."
Issues with the agent who arranged the move to Russia also arose, taking Razak's focus away from football as he learned a costly lesson.
“I was having trouble with the agent that took me to Russia, so it was a bit difficult for me. I was naïve back then, so when an agent talks to you, you just listen, but it’s part of life to make mistakes, but you have to get better. I just forget everything and I’m glad back to football now."
At West Ham, Razak didn't get any minutes on the pitch, as his style was not suited to Sam Allardyce's footballing ideals. Razak moved on to short spells at Crete and Doncaster after departing Upton Park, which left his career hanging in the balance.
"It didn’t work at West Ham due to Sam Allardyce, as I like to play football and that’s not his style. Then my work permit expired, so I had to wait for another one. The Home Office take a long time to reply, so then I was without a club. So I ended up four months without a club."
Having spent a number of months without a club after leaving Doncaster, Razak knew he was in a make or break situation and if his next move didn't work out, his professional career could well be over.
He spoke to former Manchester City team-mate, Celta Vigo striker John Guidetti, who offered him a plan to resurrect his career out of the spotlight in Sweden, where he received an offer to join second tier side AFC United.
“I had about eight or nine months without playing and it was a bit difficult. By that time my missus was pregnant so we were expecting a baby. It was difficult, but then a good friend of mine, John Guidetti, was telling me that I was a good player and I should go to re-build my career in Sweden, which I thought was a good option.
"The league started in April in Sweden, so I gave it a go and ended up at AFC United. The first few months weren’t great as I was struggling for match fitness, so I kept getting injured, but I became stronger in the second half of the season."
Even though he was now back in professional football, a one-year deal with AFC United offered little security and only a short time to impress, especially as he was well short of match fitness.
“I was thinking if I mess up here, it’s the end of my career so I had to give myself to that place and when I was injured I was thinking my career was in the balance, but when I got back for the second half of the season, when I started getting games, I thought I needed to push to the end and then it paid off."
Despite only playing 12 times for AFC United, which resulted in a successful promotion, Razak was spotted by top-flight side IFK Gothenburg, who scouted him repeatedly during his spell in Sweden, as they saw his undoubted potential to player at a higher level.
Gothenburg, who finished fourth in the Allsvenskan last season, offered Razak the luxury of a three-year contract, allowing him to relieve himself of stress after a consistent period of penning short-term deals, as he now knows he can provide for his growing family.
“When Gothenburg came for me, I thought ‘wow’ and it was a surprise to everyone. They were looking at me playing games most of the time, it’s not like it’s been done by an agent; they sent a scout to watch me every time, so there was proper interest and before the end of the season, I had a conversation with my agent and the sporting director of Gothenburg before going on holiday and they showed me their interest and it’s another step in the right direction.
“It was really good as I don’t have to stress myself. Sometimes when you get a one-year contract, you think about what’s going to happen next year, you think it’s going to be difficult. When a bigger club like Gothenburg come in, they’re never going to offer you two years, they’re always going to offer you three to four years. For me, it’s about working hard again, I’m just going to work hard for the three years and see what happens next."
His partner and daughter are still based in London, something that makes England a big draw for the midfielder, but he knows he will need to use his time in Sweden to its fullest if he's to return to where it all began and prove a few people wrong in the process.
“In the future I plan to come back to the Premier League to show people who didn’t believe I could make it. I need to show people that I am back in football, as some thought I wasn’t going to make it back. I am glad I am back to football, but I started the journey in England and I feel I’ve got to finish it.
“When you’re young you get people believe in you when you’re at a team like Man City where I broke into the first team, which made people expect a lot from me, but right now people are asking ‘"where is Abdul Razak?" so you feel like you need to remind people and make them think "that is the Abdul Razak I’ve met before", so I see it as a challenge. Obviously I went down for a bit, then I realised time goes quickly, I’ve corrected my mistakes and now my mission is to get back to the Premier League, as I would love to be back in the Premier League."
Now the lessons of the past have been learnt from, Razak needs to keep growing as a person if he's to ensure he becomes the footballer he promised he would be.
“I want to prove myself right. I just hope, with God’s grace, I will stay injury free, that’s the most important. Then we will see how the journey pans out; for me, the journey has just started now at the age of 24. I am continuing to grow and things are changing for me. For me things could have been better earlier, but these mistakes force you to learn and that’s what I’ve done.”