Coventry City wonderkid Conor Thomas says his shock move to Liverpool FC came too early for him.
The former Coundon Court schoolboy, who played for Christ the King before being signed up by the Sky Blues as a kid, revealed his move to the Premier League club – which proved controversial at the time – came completely out of the blue.
“When it first happened it was all so quick and I didn’t get a lot of time to think about it, and was just told what to do,” said the player.
It was this loan move - with a view to a £1 million permanent deal - prompted the resignation of Gary Hoffman as vice-chairman, who was opposed to the deal along with then chairman Ray Ranson.
Thomas had only just made his full City debut against Birmingham in the FA Cup last January when Aidy Boothroyd called him in to his office.
“We had a recovery session on the Sunday and then trained on the Monday ahead of the Tuesday game at Forest and I was called in to see the gaffer at lunchtime,” said the teenager who said he felt a mixture of shock, excitement and nerves when he was told.
“He just asked to speak to my agent and my mum because a deal had been agreed for me to go to Liverpool.
"He told me a car was picking me up to go up there, he said thanks for everything and good luck, shook my hand and that was it.
“I couldn’t believe it. I was feeling a bit of everything and just needed to speak to someone to calm me down really.
"I spoke to my mum and dad and everything was going through my mind because it had all happened so quickly.”
Thomas played and trained with the Reds’ reserves and trained with the first team on seven occasions during his loan stint which was cut a few weeks short by a hamstring injury and the mutual decision to return to City.
“On my first day of training up at Melwood, Kenny Dalglish introduced me to Steven Gerrard and all the lads and because he is skipper he has a duty to make everyone welcome and stuff,” he said.
“All the senior players were great while I was there and I did enjoy it, but I am glad to be back.
"I was a little star struck at first, being in the same changing room with all those famous faces, with people like Pepe Reina sitting there.
“The big plus for me was playing reserve games nearly every week.
"Obviously you are not guaranteed to play every week here but at Liverpool they have a reserves and Under-18s so you get your minutes on the pitch, but if I had signed I wouldn’t be happy playing reserve football for all that time, and one of the main reasons for coming back was to start enjoying my football again.
“The squad is so massive up there and I was coming back after I had done my hamstring and the gaffer, Andy Thorn, called me and asked me what I wanted to do.
"It was probably three weeks before my time was due to come to an end and I told him I wasn’t really enjoying it and that I’d love to come back.
“And he made a few calls and rang me back ten minutes later and got me back, which I was very pleased about.”
He added: “I think it was a good move but just maybe happened at the wrong time for me.
"I am just coming into the new season wanting to enjoy every minute of training and playing.
"Obviously I hope to be on the bench and come on when I can if the time is right, but as long as I am enjoying my football, that’s the main thing at the minute.”
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