Daniel Adu-Adjei: London to Rijeka and life as a professional footballer in Croatia

"Right from the beginning I started off at, it was like a football school that I went to every Saturday. This was around five or six and then I started to improve while there and enjoy football a lot more. And then I actually got scouted at my friend's football party. You know Power League, how, if it's your birthday, you invite your friends to go and play there. So we went there and the one who was running it knew people.

"I think he had a friend who was a scout or someone who was involved with football. So then he referred me to him and I went to Brentford Development Centre and Tottenham Development Centre. I was going to both of those maybe two or three times a week and then got invited into Brentford's actual academy for a trial.

"Went there around six, ended up getting in after a while, was at Brentford until 11 and then their academy shut down. So from there I went to Fulham, was there until 16, didn't get offered a scholarship. Then went on trial at Bournemouth and a few other teams, got into Bournemouth and then was there until I left last season."

"I don't think anyone too well known was around my year at Bournemouth. There's a few lads playing League One, a couple of lads abroad as well actually. From my 21 year group there's two lads in Portugal at Moreirense, there's two in Serbia, one, Archie Harris, at Wigan, one, Noa Boutin, he's in the Scottish Championship. So there's a few of us dotted around."

"The owners of Bournemouth, the Black Knight group, were interested in buying Rijeka at one point, which is sort of what brought the conversation around. Apparently they were talking about positions that needed strengthening and if Bournemouth had any options for that. And then my name came up and during that window I was looking for an opportunity to play first-team football.

"I knew that it wasn't very likely at Bournemouth and I wanted to try and get somewhere where I'd have that consistent first-team football. And hearing about Rijeka, hearing about the opportunity to play in Europe and play in a team that's hopefully competing for the league and things like that, I was really excited by it. So I went out to visit Croatia with my girlfriend and my family and we all really loved it. It was a really easy decision from there."

"Life in Croatia is great. Most of the time the weather's really nice, it's really chill, the people are really easy going. Everyone speaks good enough English for me to be able to get by, so it's great, I'm really enjoying it."

"At the moment I’m not learning the language, it's a really tough one to learn. I haven't actually started lessons yet. But in the squad I think there's nine of us that speak no Croatian at all, so that helps a lot. Last season we had a Spanish manager, so he spoke in English the whole time, but this season we've got a Slovenian manager and they speak the same language, so that's been a bit tough. But they always have someone to translate for us and help us to understand what's going on."

"Croatians are quite easy going compared to, like, I'm from London where everything's 100 miles an hour, everyone's rushing around. But people are really chill here, relaxing, having coffee, they've got a really big coffee culture. The food's really good. Obviously by the sea they've got loads of fresh fish. I really like sea bass. I'm not really much of a seafood person, but I quite like sea bass, which is really nice, it's really fresh. I think I've adapted really well to living here."

"The cost of living is definitely cheaper. A lot of what I buy in the shops is stuff that comes from England, which does sometimes make it a bit more expensive, and I go for brands that I recognise, but I think it's quite similar. It's not much cheaper."

"In my spare time I'm quite boring. I like to watch a lot of TV. Obviously the Premier League has started again, which has been great to watch games, but I like to watch a lot of series, go for walks, go to the beach, which is really near. I’m a little bit into gaming, but not as much as I used to be."

"I was thinking there's worse places I could be moving to when heading to Rijeka, to live, at the start of my career, so that was 100% a plus in wanting to come here, knowing that I'd be comfortable in a place that I can enjoy and just enjoy living, aside from football, which is also really important. Split, which is a lot further down the coast, about four hours away, that's quite touristy, but around here it's a bit more quiet. I'd never been to Croatia before. I'd heard of people who'd come to have holidays here, but I'd never come before."

"I think you've got to try the little towns. There's one called Opatija, which is about 15 minutes from here, which is really nice. It's really quite old, all the old buildings and just a really nice area to be in. I think trying new areas. Also, if you're into seafood, you'll really like it here. All the fish is really fresh, so definitely the seafood as well. And maybe coffee, if you're not into coffee, because I was never into coffee before coming here. And then once I'd come and I tried it, I loved it."

"I'd never even, growing up, thought about the prospect of playing abroad and never thought it was a possibility. So I think it’s about staying open-minded to any opportunities that come about, because football is huge everywhere. I think playing in England, it's really easy to be closed-minded and to think that that's the only place where football is big or where there's big opportunities.

"I think football in Europe is huge, and especially with a club where you have the opportunity to play in the Conference League, for example, or even competing for leagues in those countries, there's huge fan bases everywhere, there's huge opportunities everywhere. I'd definitely encourage going abroad for players."

"It's really tough to say what the future will hold. I just want to try and keep improving. Obviously, I'm always looking to try and take bigger steps in my career and to try and keep developing. It’s just about seeing how this next season goes and seeing where I can push on from there. Obviously, the ideal dream is to get back to the UK at some point and try and compete there. It's the best league in the world, so I'd love to do that."

Weather: 7.5/10 "It does get quite stormy in the winter months. We've had a few games, well one game especially last season where we had to stop the game at half-time because it was just way too windy and rainy. When it's good, it's really good."

Food: 8/10 "I haven't tried too much. I'm a little bit picky with food. But I know it is good."

People: 9/10 "The people are amazing."

Things to do: 8/10. "There's quite a bit to do if you do look for it."

Cost of living: 8/10

Total: 40.5/50

Access to Daniel was provided courtesy of New Vision Football.