Former Chelsea star makes revelation on his life at the bridge

Former Chelsea left-back Patrick Van Aanholt has revealed that the Blues almost made him quit football.

The Crystal Palace man has now revived his football career, winning nine caps for the national team Netherlands while he is getting enough playtime at under Roy Hodgson. During his stay at Chelsea, the Dutchman was loaned to five different clubs in a span of three seasons between 2009 and 2012. He played for Coventry, Newcastle, and Leicester on loan before he went to play for Holland side Vitesse, where he struggled to settle under Roberto Martinez.

“One of the worst loans of my life,” Van Aanholt said of his Wigan loan.

“It was partly the manager, but a little bit me. Obviously, when you go on loan from Chelsea you expect to play. I was really thinking about quitting football. I was that upset, I wanted to stop.

“I went on holiday with my missus at the time and said, ‘What am I going to do now? No club is going to want me because I haven’t played for a year’. I was very close. At the time my mentality was wrong, I’m not going to lie.

“I thought, ‘F*** it, I’m not going to train (properly)’. I didn’t want to play in the reserves. It was the wrong attitude. I could have trained for myself, so when I got the chance I was ready. I didn’t do that. I was just training and going home. That was just a waste of time. That’s why Wigan is a closed book.”

Van Aanholt was allowed to join Sunderland after a successful three-year spell in the Dutch league at Vitesse.

Was he right to leave?