Former Dynamo Kyiv midfielder Jermaine Lens, now playing in the French third division for Versailles, spoke about the final stretch of his career.
"Some of my former teammates initially asked what I was even doing here, to which I explained to them that the top level was no longer realistic for me, as I had hardly played in the entire year that preceded my move to Versailles.
At my previous club, Besiktas, I was suspended from training with the team for a long time. I was about 33 years old at the time and my career was already on the decline. At the time of the coronavirus, I had already started thinking not only about football, but also made a financial plan to continue living a good life after my career was over.
Anyway, in 14 months I had not played a single match. During that period of my career I allowed myself to relax a bit and the scales under me showed 110 kilos. When I returned to Amsterdam and for fun I was training with friends at the amateur club Real Sranang, at one point the men who were in their fifties just outstripped me. On the way home in the car, I thought, "This is not good, man."
That's when I called my personal trainer and started working hard. I wanted to show that I could still show something in football. Apparently, that's the way the universe works. From the moment I changed my mindset, a lot of calls came in with offers. That's how I ended up at Versailles. And it's a blessing that I can still play at the age of 36," vi.nl quoted Lens as saying