Nathaniel Clyne: 'I wanted to be a striker'

Liverpool and England defender Nathaniel Clyne has admitted that he wanted to be a striker when he started playing football.

Clyne spent time with Tottenham Hotspur's academy and Crystal Palace, before a three-year stint with Southampton ahead of his move to Anfield earlier this summer.

The 24-year-old told The Guardian: "Ideally I would have been a striker. I liked playing up front and scoring goals. That was a long time ago.

"I was only seven or eight at the time and I can't even remember who the opposition were, but it was Spurs who I ended up joining. I was with them from age 10 to 13, and that when I began playing full-back.

"Even when I was playing up front I always had a lot of energy and a hunger to run after people and win the back back. I was really good at it, so eventually they decided I was better off as a defender."

Clyne scored three goals for Southampton last season.