Promotion hero Christoph Zimmermann has spoken further about how close he came to walking away from football, before his Norwich City opportunity arrived.
The towering centre-back revealed that he had considered going into teaching during interviews two years ago, after he was signed on a free transfer by his former Borussia Dortmund II boss Daniel Farke.
Now with a Premier League career set to begin - once he's fully recovered from minor knee surgery in the next couple of weeks - Zimmermann has revealed he could have ended up playing in the second tier in Denmark.
"Two years ago I was studying teaching," the German explained. "I was also in talks with a club in Denmark but they had just been relegated to the second league, so I wasn't thinking about that.
"I was thinking about staying in Germany and doing a serious job. I had played five years in the lower tiers in Germany, so I thought I should focus on my future.
"There were two options: study in Dortmund, which means my fiancée would have to pay the rent. Option two was Denmark but I had second thoughts about it. Then Farke texted me to find out if I had a new club.
"Within 10 days I flew to Norwich and signed the day after. I could be starting my masters degree now - but I'm going to play in the Premier League!"
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The defender has gone on to impressive success with the Canaries, wearing the captain's armband for much of last season's Championship title success - but he admits to still occasionally feeling homesick.
"The good thing about coming to England was that it happened so quickly. I didn't have time to think about it," he added, speaking to the Daily Mail.
"Until the age of 21, I was seeing my family everyday. FaceTime helps, but I'd be lying if I said it was easy. You get used to it - but you shouldn't get used to not seeing each other regularly."
Zimmermann got a taste for the big time during the early stages of his City career though, concluding: "When I played at Arsenal and Chelsea in the cups, I thought to myself, 'I could be in a lecture right now'. But instead I was playing in front of 50,000 at Arsenal. It was then I knew I chose the right path."
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