You came through the ranks at Everton before moving to Manchester City in 2000, aged 21. What prompted the transfer?
I played almost every game under Walter Smith at Everton. I was enjoying it, but an offer came in from Wimbledon and Everton accepted it. I had my medical, visited the training ground, met the players, then went home to get my stuff and flew to London the next day. One of the directors met me at Heathrow and said, “Sorry, the deal’s off; we have no money.” I was like, ‘What the f**k am I supposed to do?’ As we waited for the next flight back, my agent got a call from Joe Royle. We sorted it that day. It was strange: I thought I
