I was a Premier League player for West Ham before a ‘nightmare’ in Argentina – now I coach Greece and have undergone an impressive body transformation
Getting a Player of the Year award a matter of months after breaking into the first team would surely mean all roads lead to a top football career.
But for one star who achieved that back in 2014, who's the son of an ex-footballer, decided to tread a different path in the sport — and now looks unrecognisable from his playing days.
Meet Diego Poyet — son of former Chelsea and Tottenham man as well as ex-Premier League manager Gus Poyet — who looked sure to reach the highest level when he came through Charlton's academy, while also earning caps for England's under-16 and under-17 sides.
Aged 19, he made his debut in January 2014 and made 23 appearances in the Addicks' first team as he played a key role in helping them avoid relegation from the Championship.
His performances even earned him the Player of the Year award, too.
But thanks in part to the ongoing chaos off the pitch at The Valley under controversial former owner Roland Duchatelet, Poyet opted not to extend his contract, much to the disappointment of Charlton fans.
«After about three or four weeks [after the season ended] Charlton contacted me and I wasn't really pleased with the offer they gave me,» he later told Sky Sports in 2018.
«I'd been at the club six or seven years and had a close relationship with a lot of the players and the offer made me feel under-appreciated, considering how long I'd been at the club and I'd just won player of the year.»
Instead, he signed for London rivals West Ham on a four-year deal.
This was despite his dad, who was manager at Premier League Sunderland at the time, wanting to sign him, but later realising having his son at the Stadium of Light may cause a rift in the dressing room.
But after seeking a fresh start following a
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