George Swan is Britain’s youngest agent at 22 – a year after the ex-Manchester City starlet quit playing through injury
Former defender has bounced back but says the heartache of early retirement meant he couldn't watch football for months
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GEORGE SWAN has become Britain's youngest football agent at 22 - a year after the ex-Manchester City starlet quit playing through injury.
But the former Leeds centre-back admits he was so devastated by retirement that it took him months to even watch a football match again.
Swan told the Mirror: “I’d done my cruciate ligament, broke my leg, torn my groin...I couldn’t get myself fit and was getting left behind.
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“Manchester City were great. I eventually ended up at York but I’d had another operation. I phoned my dad and said: ‘I’ve had enough.’
“When you are in football, you’re in a bubble. I couldn’t do anything for two or three months. I couldn’t watch a game on the television.
“It took me that long to get over the heartache. Then I went to a dinner with my agents and they said: ‘Why don’t you come on board with us?’”
Swan was rated one of English football's hottest prospects when he swapped Elland Road for the Etihad in a £500,000 deal eight years ago.
And he praised City's attitude after he stopped playing.
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Swan said then-assistant boss coach Patrick Vieira told him: “If you ever want a job at Manchester City, as a kit-man, cook or coach, let me know.”
He added: “I didn’t want to sit and watch football and think: ‘That could be me,’ or ‘I’m better than him’ and get bitter about it.
“Because I’m still young and have recent experience of how top clubs operate, I can give my colleagues a first-hand insight.
“But I’ve got a lot to learn myself from Lee Matthews and Mark Obern who have given me a chance at Sports’ Management International.
"I just want to give lads proper advice and make sure they are well looked after.”