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<\/p>\nFORMER Manchester City prospect Curtis Anderson went from Under-17s World Cup glory with England to an office job within the space of five years.<\/p>\n
Anderson, 22, played a key role in the Young Lions' 2017 triumph with some crucial saves as he denied a penalty and scored another in the quarter-final shoot-out against Japan before the final versus Spain.<\/p>\n
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He stood out for Steve Cooper's side alongside the likes of Jadon Sancho, Phil Foden, Conor Gallagher, Marc Guehi, Morgan Gibbs-White, Emile Smith Rowe and Callum Hudson-Odoi – all of whom now play in the Premier League.<\/p>\n
The goalkeeper – who now plays for Non-League side Bootle FC – appeared to be on the way up as he impressed City manager Pep Guardiola, who named him as his third choice at the Etihad.<\/p>\n
However, it all started to go south at the age of 19 when Blackburn expressed an interest in signing him during the January transfer window.<\/p>\n
Man City told him to stay on until the end of the season, but he insisted on a move to Ewood Park – which never materialised.<\/p>\n
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Anderson told The Times: \u201cMe being a kid and thinking I knew everything, I was like, no, I need to go and play. <\/p>\n
\u201cBlackburn were clearly there \u2014 why not train, stay earning this money and go to Blackburn at the end of the season? Nobody told me to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n
That led Anderson moving across the pond to Charlotte Independence, which was a second-tier club in the United States.<\/p>\n
Celtic's former youth coach Jim McGuinness attracted him to Charlotte after he was appointed manager and thought he would help him move to the MLS.<\/p>\n
<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n But McGuinness was sacked just three months later and the shot-stopper only managed 11 appearances before his departure a few months later.<\/p>\n Anderson added: "Going to America stopped my momentum. Coming back to England during Covid killed me.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n "I went from loving football, ages eight to 18, to thinking, 'This isn't what I thought it was'.<\/p>\n "Whether it's unlucky, unfortunate, wrong decisions here or there, people not helping, whatever you want to call it, it's not great. I sometimes struggle with how I feel about it."<\/p>\n FREE BETS – BEST BETTING OFFERS AND BONUSES NEW CUSTOMERS<\/strong><\/p>\n Anderson returned to England for Wycombe in the Championship but was quickly sent out on loan to non-league sides Walton Casuals and Eastbourne Borough before his departure on January 31.<\/p>\n He joined Lancaster City and that is when he decided to look for a different career in finance as he wanted more stability in his life.<\/p>\n Anderson now works as a financial adviser for Markland Hill Wealth in Lancaster – and he is the only one from that England Under-17 side that is no longer active in football.<\/p>\n However, he admitted he "struggled" watching former team-mates, like Foden and Gallagher, getting called up by England manager Gareth Southgate for the 2022 World Cup.<\/p>\n And he stayed behind watching his buddies compete in Qatar during his lunch break at the office wondering what could have been.<\/p>\n Anderson said: "I really struggled [during the World Cup] because I was seeing so many of my old team-mates and people I had spent a lot of time with.<\/p>\n "And then there's me, sat at home watching on TV, thinking, 'How has this ended up happening?'"<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.thesun.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/RW-COMP-KEANEv2.jpg\")
<\/picture>STEPPING OUT <\/span><\/p>\n\u2018Shaken\u2019 Roy Keane breaks cover after fan \u2018headbutted\u2019 him at Arsenal match<\/h3>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.thesun.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/crop-23779278-2.jpg\")
<\/picture>ROY ASSAULT <\/span><\/p>\nRoy Keane \u2018shaken\u2019 after \u2018headbutt\u2019 by fan with Sky set to \u2018beef up\u2019 security<\/h3>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.thesun.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/GIF-HERO-Keane-UNMUZZED_V3.gif?strip=all&w=300&h=192&crop=1\")
<\/picture>SEEING RED <\/span><\/p>\nRoy Keane \u2018headbutted’ as Micah Richards holds \u2018attacker\u2019<\/h3>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.thesun.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/LB-SPORTS-porto-mobile-copy.jpg\")
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![](\"https:\/\/www.thesun.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/england-vs-spain-vivekananda-yuba-363214009.jpg\")
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