MOHAMMED Salisu recalls how his mum had to confiscate his football boots to stop him skipping school – and how he was forced to face the most important trial of his life without any.

The Ghanaian defender grew up playing on sand pitches barefoot, a young boy who could only imagine life in football beyond the shores of Africa.

Limited links and scarce opportunity become a blockade for even the best players. Talent and luck are needed in equal measure to find one’s way.

But now, via Spain, 22-year-old centre-back Salisu is the most dependable cog in a well-oiled Saints defence – which Ralph Hasenhuttl has so desperately tried to cultivate.

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Signed from Real Valladolid for £10million+ in August 2020, Salisu waited until February for a debut of any kind.

Daily Echo: Mohammed Salisu made his Saints debut in the FA Cup at Wolves (Pic: PA) Mohammed Salisu made his Saints debut in the FA Cup at Wolves (Pic: PA)

He’s played every Premier League game this campaign, with only six sides conceding fewer goals (12) and defending a keeper of which only three have kept more shutouts.

“When I was a child I always dreamed to be a footballer,” Salisu revealed to the club website, “I remember I used to play on a sand pitch without shoes.

“When my parents told me to go to school, I always go to play football instead. I remember one day my mum took my shoes and she spoiled it because I did not go to school, I only went to play football.”

He added: “This is a dream come true, playing in the sand without boots and now I find myself here playing in the Premier League, one of the best leagues in the world, I am very proud and happy for what I have achieved in my life.”

Daily Echo: Now the Accra-born star is one of Saints' most integral defenders (Pic: PA)Now the Accra-born star is one of Saints' most integral defenders (Pic: PA)

The opportunity for an escape to Europe found itself at Salisu’s bare feet through a couple of football academies, West African Football Academy – an enterprise started and backed by Netherlands’ Feyenoord, and African Talent Football Academy.

Salisu left the former in 2015 and it looked as though his journey could have been over for almost half-a-year, before he was given a rebirth.

African Talent Football Academy, formed and inspired by scout Fran Castino Benito, gives some of the best talent in the continent fully sponsored education, meals, and accommodation, to allow for focus on football with no distractions.

Daily Echo: The 22-year-old has come a long way from the sandy pitches of Ghana (Pic: PA)The 22-year-old has come a long way from the sandy pitches of Ghana (Pic: PA)

But you still need to bring your own boots.

Salisu explained: “I was with my mum for five-to-seven months without playing and African Talent saw me and they told me to trial, I went there and I remember the first day, there were so many players there.

“They called me to come tomorrow so I didn’t have boots at the moment, I talked to the manager and he said he will get me boots, but I travelled there and there was no boots,” Salisu admitted.

“So I needed to wait for someone to play the first half for when they change so I can get some. They were very big!

Daily Echo: Mohammed Salisu scored his first goal for Saints in the EFL Cup at Sheffield United (Pic: PA)Mohammed Salisu scored his first goal for Saints in the EFL Cup at Sheffield United (Pic: PA)

“When I finished playing, the coach called me, that day I was late and he was angry with me before, but when we finished playing he told me that if I’m serious he can help bring me to Europe.

“He was serious about me, so I thought maybe this is my chance. It is not easy in Ghana to get the chance, there are so many good players but there is no way for them to come here to play.

“I was thinking this is my time.”