23 hours ago The Young Team 24/25 | Part 3: Samuel Duruh
Most success stories in football start with a rejection somewhere along the line.
And 17-year-old Kilmarnock youngster Samuel Duruh is hoping he’s no different.
Dubbed a hot prospect with a bright future, the young striker – who was born in Nigeria – kicked off his footballing career with a knock back from Motherwell.
Moving to Scotland when he was a 10-year-old due to his family uprooting from Spain – where he played with a boys’ club with ties to La Liga side Valencia CF – they landed in Lanarkshire and he subsequently joined Motherwell’s youth setup.
However, after four years with the Steelmen they decided not to extend his stay when he was 15.
He then joined Kilmarnock’s academy as he worked towards Under 18s level, where in his second year he was recently rewarded with his first ever professional contract.
Now he is hoping to kick on, and admits he has aspirations of becoming a first-team player at BBSP Rugby Park.
Discussing his time since signing the pro deal, he said: “I’ve settled pretty quickly, so I am still doing the same thing, just playing my football.
“The coaches want me to kick on now to be honest, they just say play my game and show them what I can do which that’s what I’m trying to do this season and hopefully I can break into the first team.
“I feel like you kind of work your whole life for this kind of opportunity so you’re always going to work hard, you should be ready obviously but I kind of get it, you should work harder when you’ve got your pro deal and try and kick on.
“Getting into the first-team isn’t a dream, it’s a goal to be honest.
“You’ve got to set yourself goals and by next year I want to obviously catch the gaffer’s eye and show him what I can do.”
On his departure from Motherwell, Samuel said: “It was their decision really, because when you’re turning 16, you move up to Under 18s, and they couldn’t guarantee me game time, so I left. They were honest and said I wouldn’t really have a future there.
“That kind of honesty helped me to be fair, it woke me up, because the world isn’t rainbows and roses, so it just made me want to work harder.
“My dad then spoke to someone at Killie and they said I should come in for pre-season, I came in and they seemed to like me, so they kept me on.
“After my first year here, I wasn’t offered the pro deal, so I knew I had to work harder to win it.
“I was a bit gutted, but at the end of the day, this was another setback I had to overcome. So, I worked harder over the next pre-season, and things worked out for me at the end.
“I don’t like rejection obviously, but it’s part of life, so you just need to keep going.
“When I got my contract, my family were really pleased to be honest, because I was working hard for it.
“They’re trying to push me more now, because you either stay where you are, or you push on from here.
“It is relief that comes first when you sign the deal. Then you’re trying to take it in, process what’s happened. After that you need to relax yourself and realise that things don’t last forever, so you need to keep working hard and make sure that it continues to be good.
In the short term, Samuel’s sights are set on securing success in the Scottish Youth Cup, with Killie set to take on Dundee at Hampden on Wednesday 30th April.
He said: “We just focus on getting our results in. We want to win the cup.
“We came close last season to winning the league, got knocked out in the cup quarter-finals to Aberdeen.
“This season we’re hoping to step up and go one further.
“It’s the games you really want to play in, those are the games that matter the most, that make up the points in the season. If we win it, it’s a big stepping stone for the club and for the boys to make a name for themselves.”
And on current Under 18s coach Chris Burke, Samuel said: “He’s an attacker, so he gives out a lot of feedback to me anyway.
“I feel like he’s always nice to me, tries to help me, he’s nice. Yeah, he really does what a manager should do.
“He’s friendly off the pitch, you can talk to him. And you know that he’s got that experience, European experience, Scotland the lot, he is someone I look up to and admire.”
This piece was originally published in the Killie Magazine, which is available in the Killie Superstore and is packed full of exclusive content.
