Sassuolo star midfielder Alfred Duncan has revealed having the door shut on him at Inter Milan spurred him on to become a top player.
Duncan had his talent honed at the Angelo Moratti Sports Centre and was part of the team which won the NextGen Series tournament (now christened UEFA Youth League) in 2012.
But the 26-year-old was never given more playing opportunities to feature for the First Team at the San Siro.
After making three appearances for the Nerazzurri in the2012/13 season, he got shipped out to Serie B side Livorno in January 2013 for the first-team experience.
''I never felt hurt because I became a motivation for me because sometimes you don’t get the chance to do what you desire because, with football, it’s about choices. Every coach and every club has its own choices and they also try to build up a team in a different way,'' he told Joy Sports.
''Most of the team wouldn’t like to play with the younger sides they have developed from the youth side. They prefer going out to buy complete players already who have that experience.
''So for me I had this misfortune to land in a team where they had all the resources to buy any player they desired. So they couldn’t wait for me to develop so they had to give me out on loan.
''I stayed with Inter- six months in the first team and then I got loaned to Livorno. In Serie B that was my first experience.''
Duncan made 23 appearances and scored two goals to help Livorno qualify to the Serie A.
''I went there [Livorno] with anger because I felt I got to a point in my career after the youth side I had something to give but I wasn’t given the chance to do so and I was able to demonstrate to everyone that I was ready and I could do something.''
Last season, Duncan scored four goals in 26 Serie A appearances to help the Neroverdi finish 11th.