St Johnstone striker Benjamin Kimpioka has gone from Sunderland ‘wonderkid’ linked with Arsenal to being deemed surplus to requirements in the Swedish top flight by the age of 23.
And the McDiarmid Park January recruit believes a rollercoaster of career experiences will help him be a Scottish Premiership success.
“In life and football there are a lot of ups and downs,” said Kimpioka, whose spells with AIK and FC Luzern didn’t play out as he would have wished following his 2022 departure from the Stadium of Light.
“There have been good ups for me and some downs but I appreciate every moment.
“I’m not too old yet but I have been through quite a lot.
“That is good because it makes you stronger mentally. It either makes you or breaks you.
“I have the mentality that, even if I am going through down periods, I enjoy it.
“It makes me stronger and tougher mentally.
1⃣2⃣ goals in 8⃣games for Benji Kimpioka now
🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/EECJoyFOVX
— Sunderland AFC (@SunderlandAFC) November 23, 2017
“When you come up as a young player, you don’t really see that side of the game.
“You just think it is going to be easy.
“But life as a footballer is very tough and you need to be strong mentally.
“To become stronger, you need to go through these situations. With experience you grow.”
When Craig Levein made his move to bring Kimpioka back to the UK – identifying the under-21 international’s raw pace as an asset Saints were lacking – the faith put in him by the former Scotland manager was one of the keys to the new year transfer.
Levein’s ‘trust’
“I was interested straight away,” he said
“I came over for a day to visit the guys, manager and staff, see the stadium and check out the facilities.
“I felt a very good energy towards the city, the club and everything about it.
“Soon after that day, I really knew what I wanted.
“I have had a good welcome and there is trust in me. I feel very motivated.
“We have excellent footballers in the team so I’m really looking forward to playing here.”
Kimpioka, known as Benji, can play across the front line and is in contention to make his Saints debut in Saturday’s Scottish Cup clash with Airdrie.
“You gain fitness back quickly,” he said. “Especially here because there are no easy sessions.
“There is no jogging or walking.
“It’s hard work every day and everyone is pushing you all of the time.
“That helps and then you need to make sure you take care of your body afterwards.
“It is not enough just to do it in training.
“In time off and when you come home, little bits and pieces are very important.”
Kimpioka added: “I know the sides of the game I need to improve on.
“When you are younger you have the ability and the speed. You think it is going to be easy.
“It is a lot more complicated because in football you need to be smart and study the game to score those goals as a striker and as a winger.
“I love to learn more and more every day.
“When I was younger I was mainly a winger but at Sunderland and for the national team under-21s I was mainly a striker.
“I have experience as both but mainly throughout the years I have been playing up front.”
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