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Former Manchester City and Ipswich Town player Ben Knight hoping to rediscover love for football after injury nightmare in Spain with Real Murcia




On the face of it, there can be few better jobs than being a Premier League footballer.

The money, the doors that open up, the adulation, and the ability to travel the world – all for doing something that a lot of young boys and girls go to bed dreaming about every night.

But there is another side of football at the highest level – one that the average supporter does not get to see. And as Ben Knight knows only too well, when the injuries take hold, it can be a very lonely existence.

Ben Knight in action for Manchester City during a Papa John's Trophy match against Lincoln City. Picture: PA
Ben Knight in action for Manchester City during a Papa John's Trophy match against Lincoln City. Picture: PA

After scoring 74 goals in one season for Burwell Tigers, it was not long before Knight was snapped up by Ipswich Town, with the Tractor Boys successfully beating off competition from Cambridge United.

Knight, who was raised in the village of Reach, quickly became a well-known figure within academy circles, so much so that he secured a Nike sponsorship deal before entering his teens.

Inevitably, the big clubs started to circle ominously and, despite Ipswich’s best efforts to keep hold of a youngster that they regarded as one of their potential stars of the future, in 2018, at the age of 16, Knight moved to Manchester City for a reported £1m.

Ben Knight during his days in the Ipswich Town academy. Picture: James Ager
Ben Knight during his days in the Ipswich Town academy. Picture: James Ager

To say the switch was life changing would not do it justice. With a self confidence that belied his tender age, Knight was well aware that he was one of, if not the best, players in his age group at Ipswich. But over at City he was a very talented footballer among a whole host of other players just like him. And he was also living away from home, with his family almost 200 miles away.

The former Bottisham Village College pupil said: “I was at Ipswich and I was like the golden boy. It felt like they were so focused on me and the way that people were looking after me, it made me feel special.

“I was training with the first team and it was little things like that which showed me how important I was to them.

“Ipswich really wanted to keep me but when Man City come calling – and I had a few other teams interested as well – you can’t really say no. As much as I could have stayed at Ipswich and pushed for the first team, there was no guarantee that it would happen.

“At Ipswich everything went through me. If I wanted the ball I’d go and get the ball, even if it was at right-back or left-back.

“But when you go to a big team like City, you can’t do that and everything changes.

“At the start it was difficult, moving away from my family at the age of 16; I was still a kid and that was tough.

“I thrive so much off being the best player – or trying to be the best player. Then all of a sudden I’ve gone somewhere else and there’s lots of players just like me, if not better.

“It’s difficult to adapt to that and I couldn’t play how I wanted to play. It didn’t revolve around me.

“All of the other lads at City have the exact same mindset as me but you have to play how they want you to play.

“And then there are all of those other things that come with it that change your life. As a 16-year-old boy with all of the things that are getting thrown at you – money, opportunities – you can’t really say no.”

But Knight did adapt. He made early eye-catching progress with standout appearances, first for the under-18s in the FA Youth Cup and then their under-23s.

Knight, whose uncle is former England cricketer Nick, eventually became a regular in first-team training, working alongside Pep Guardiola and a squad of superstars that have dominated English football in recent years.

In 2021 he made his competitive debut in the Community Shield against Leicester City before leaving shortly after to embark on his first regular taste of senior football on loan at Crewe Alexandra, then of League One.

Life at Gresty Road started brightly, but it would be cut short by injury and little did Knight know but it was the start of a mentally draining two-and-a-half-year period.

Every time that the Cambridge-born playmaker felt as though he was getting closer to something resembling full fitness, he broke down.

His struggles were best encapsulated in 2022 when he went on City’s pre-season tour of the USA and was on the bench for two Premier League games early on in that season, but in the October of that year he left the pitch against Derby County during an EFL Trophy clash on a stretcher with an ankle injury that required surgery and ruled him out for seven months.

All of a sudden youngsters that were previously behind him the pecking order had jumped ahead in the queue. It was harsh lesson in the fact that football – especially at an elite level – waits for nobody. And with his days so monotonous, his love for the game was at an all-time low.

He said: “I fell out of love with football. You can’t help getting injured and when you’re injured you sit there and watch other people overtake you. You lose your match sharpness so quickly.

“It’s rubbish. You go to training, you’re in the gym all day and then you go home. You do the same thing every day and because I spent so long in a boot, I couldn’t do anything. It was horrible, going to training, coming home and being on my own.

“It is really difficult and people don’t see it. You might be earning really good money, have a nice car and a nice apartment, but you’re not doing your job and you’re just doing nothing.

“I’d told my dad that if I got injured again I’m going to stop. Obviously that’s an in-the-moment thing and when you stop and think about it, I’ve worked so hard to get to where I am.

“But it (quitting) has gone through my head a few times for us. There’s no enjoyment at all in being injured all of the time, not being able to play.”

Despite all of his fitness issues, Guardiola still included Knight in the squad that toured America this summer.

His contract with the champions was due to run until June 2025 and he could have stayed until then, but the ex-Swaffham Bulbeck Primary School student decided that it was time to cut ties.

“It was amazing. It’s every kid’s dream to play with the best players in the world and train with them every day – I’ve been able to do that. The amount of experiences I’ve had, it’s crazy,” he added.

“And Pep was amazing to me. When I came back from the first injury when I’d been on loan and I did the pre-season with him, I asked him what to do next. I’d got League One and League Two clubs coming in for me but he said ‘no, you stay here and play for the under-23s and train with us’. Then I got on the bench for the first team a couple of times as well.

“I love golf and when we were in Barcelona I was hitting balls on the range. He was watching me and since then we’ve always spoken about golf.

“Even this pre-season just gone, we talked about golf and it was nice to have something in common with him – not just football and that was quite refreshing.

“Working with him, it’s crazy how good and how smart he is. He’s a genius and nobody thinks about football how he does.

“I could have stayed, but staying wouldn’t have done me any favours. They probably wouldn’t have sent me out on loan because I was in the last year of my contract.

“I would have been training but because I’m a bit older now, I might not have played too often for the under-23s. They’ve got 18-year-olds coming through and they’re going to want to play them, not me.

“I wasn’t going to get offered a new deal at the end of the season so there would have been no point in them playing me.”

Knight’s next destination came out of left field. While the assumption was that he would look to move down the leagues in England in a bid to restart his career, the 22-year-old had other ideas.

And so on 12 August it was announced that he had agreed a deal with Real Murcia – a side that currently ply their trade in the third tier of Spanish football.

Knight is well aware that the switch will have raised plenty of eyebrows, yet it is a country that he always believed would suit his style of play. He also felt somewhat ostracised on home shores, tarred with the injury prone tag.

But perhaps most importantly of all, he harbours a genuine belief that life in south west Spain can help him to rediscover his affection for the game.

Knight, who is taking Spanish lessons daily to feel more comfortable in his new surroundings, said: “I’ve got to find the love for it again, get match fit and let people see that I’m playing again.

“I just wanted a fresh start. I’ve had so many injuries and I haven’t played for so long that managers in England are so cautious.

“I feel the same in training, I’m still the same player but obviously I’m not match fit.

“I’d always wanted to play in Spain and Real Murcia is a big club. When they came in for me and wanted me to join, I just thought why not give it a go?

“I never planned on playing in the third division in Spain, but it’s been difficult and I wanted a completely fresh start. It’s something new and I’m enjoying it.

“They’ve taken a chance because I’ve even had a couple of niggles since joining the club, which is normal when you start training at a different intensity – especially in the heat.

“But the club has believed in me and they feel like I can help them. I appreciate the fact they’ve taken that chance because as a manager, they’re job is to win games and if they don’t it can cost them their job. So for him (Fran Fernandez) to put faith in me is a big thing and I won’t forget that.”

Knight has so far been limited to three appearances from the bench, but he feels in the best shape that he has been in for some time.

Performances will come with the fitness, but in the meantime Murcia have made a positive start to the new campaign to sit top of the table and Knight is eager to play his part.

Asked what he would liked to have achieved come the end of the season, the response was emphatic: “A few goals, a few assists, stay injury free and promoted – that would be ideal.”

With all of the misfortune that Knight has endured, surely it is time for football to cut him some slack and grant those wishes.



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