Our Young Gun series gets to know the academy youngsters kicking off their careers at the Sobha Realty Training Centre.

Demiane Agustien spoke to us recently about his early career in Eindhoven and his time in Premier League academies while his dad played professionally.

I was born in the Dutch village of Oss, about an hour outside Amsterdam, but I mainly grew up in the Eindhoven and Tilburg areas, as that’s where both my football clubs and family homes were based. 

Football has been part of my life from the very beginning. My dad, Kemy Agustien, was a professional footballer who played in the Premier League for Swansea City, and he was the reason I first got into the game. Even as a baby, I was obsessed – my first word was “ball” and every birthday all I ever wanted was a football. 

Growing up, I admired players like Neymar and Paul Pogba – creative talents who bring people to their feet. I started playing at a young age, and when I was one my family moved to England because of my dad’s career. We lived in Birmingham, then moved again when he signed for Brighton. It was there that he helped get me a trial, but I still had to prove myself.

When my father moved clubs again we returned to the Netherlands and for a short time I stopped playing while I settled into a new area. A couple of years later, I joined Willem II in Tilburg, a club famous for producing talents like Virgil van Dijk and Frenkie de Jong, and where Alexander Isak also spent time on loan. 

When I was about 14, we moved back to England, and I joined Aston Villa for a year. I couldn’t sign officially due to international clearance issues, so I had to leave. Soon after, West Brom gave me a chance. Missing out on a scholarship was tough, but I took it as one door closing and another one opening. 

Arsenal’s interest actually started a couple of years earlier when I played against them. My dad told me afterwards that they really liked me. Later on, I had meetings with the club where they showed me how much they knew about my game and how they believed they could help me develop. 

“After speaking with my family, we all agreed that joining Arsenal was the right step forward in my career.”

The experience has been everything I hoped for, the boys have been brilliant. On the pitch we’re still learning each other’s movements, but off the pitch we’ve already built strong friendships. I’ve grown especially close to Tommy Setford. We speak Dutch together, know some of the same people and having him around has made my move here a lot easier. 

I remember being at Wembley in 2013 when Swansea won the League Cup There’s a picture of my dad making a heart sign with his hands and that was dedicated to me and my mum. Beyond football, my dad has given me so much mentally – teaching me resilience, determination, focus and motivation. Both of my parents have been huge in shaping who I am today. 

I’ve already had the chance to train with the first team a couple of times, which was a fantastic experience. You see up close the levels required to make that next step – the quality of touches, the movement, the positioning; it’s invaluable to learn from.

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