"I played there for maybe 4 years" - Premier League striker reveals he was a goalkeeper before his mother forced him to switch positions on the pitch

Brentford attacker Yoane Wissa has opened up about making a position change early on in his career. Speaking to the club's website, the DR Congo national claimed that it was his mother who advised him to play in outfield instead of between the sticks.

Wissa said:

"I actually started as a goalkeeper because the day before a game I played with my friend and, when I was in goal, he didn't score. The keeper wasn’t there and my friend told the coach I did well."

"I played there for maybe four years from when I was seven until 11."

"After that, I moved into midfield because my mother said that she didn’t want me to play there anymore because the keeper doesn’t do much during the game."

Wissa spoke about his eventual positional transition upfield, adding:

“So, I told that to my head coach and I moved to play as a No6 in midfield for maybe two years, then the next two years I played as a No10 and a winger."

“And then I started scoring a lot of goals and then, when I went to Chateauroux, I started as a striker.”

The 27-year-old is a key player for Brentford. In 23 appearances across all competitions this season, he has four goals and two assists, playing a major role during Ivan Toney's suspension.

Wissa joined the Bees in 2021 from French side FC Lorient. Since then, he has played in 97 games, scoring 21 goals and setting up seven more.

Premier League side receive massive boost after successful appeal

Everton have moved up to 15th place in the Premier League table after an appeals board cut down their 10-point deduction to six. The decision provides the Toffees a major boost in their relegation battle.

The Toffees have performed better than their fellow relegation candidates, but a point deduction due to breaching the Premier League's Profit and Sustainability rules meant they found themselves in the bottom three.

However, they have now climbed up three spots, meaning Luton Town now drop into 18th place.

The Merseysiders received the biggest sanction in Premier League history back in November for breaching financial regulations in 2021-22. They had gone over the allowed limit of losses of £105 million over a three-year period, with questions also arising over the funding of their new stadium project. They are still under investigation for the same for the 2022-23 period.