Jermaine Pennant.

[St.Anne's]

I note he was "released" by English Division 7 (South-East) outfit Billericay Town in the week, having been unable to displace 5'4" ex-Chelsea youth & English League 2 journeyman Sam Deering as 1st choice winger.
He soon re-signed on "re-negotiated terms"😂😂... which presumably means he's now on less than the £3,000pw he'd reportedly been getting for sitting on the bench.
Bullet dodged.

[Smurf]

Phew...

[Stu]

Jermaine Pennant has had some life thus far. Not excusing his transgressions in any way, including imprisonment for drink driving, but he wasn't dealt the best hand in life as a kid. His mother died of cancer when he was three years' old and he was brought up by his father in the Meadows area of Nottingham, an environment with a lot of gun crime, drugs and gang warfare. represented by the local infamous 'Waterfront Gang'.

His father was jailed for crack dealing some years back and I seem to remember ran a crack house in the city with possible brothel connections. Jermaine said that what 'saved' him was being taken on by Notts County on YTS forms at around fourteen and taking him away from his home environment. A relatively short time afterwards, Arsene Wenger is signing him for Arsenal, becoming the most expensive teenager in the country.

He's played for some major clubs and undoubtedly had talent. I suppose it's amazing that he had any career at all when you consider his upbringing.