Kecskemet midfielder Mikhail Meskhi recalled how he was forced to leave Shakhtar's academy after learning that the club did not count on him.
"Of course, I liked everything very much, but there was a lot of competition. Every year a lot of young players were brought in. It so happened that one year they told me to look for a new team. In their opinion, I was no longer suitable for this level.
I remember crying for three days after that. I was very disappointed. But my father supported me and told me that I would continue playing football. He called the coach of Donetsk Metallurg Viktor Zhuravlev.
He said that he would be pleased if I came to them. Three days later I was already there and trained with the team," Meskhi said.