'A knee injury ruined my football dream, but now I make up to £35,000 selling art to Jack Grealish and Marcus Rashford'

David Moli wasn't always focused on becoming a Premier League star. Born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, it wasn't until after David moved to the UK when he was 10 that he fell in love with the game.

He was invited to complete an apprenticeship at Liverpool, playing alongside the likes of England star Raheem Sterling. He played for the England youth teams and at 17, he signed for Wolverhampton Wanderers and became a professional, MyLondon reports.

But his career was blighted by injuries and he eventually played all around the world in Maldives, France, Poland and Estonia. After tearing his anterior cruciate ligament, at 24, he decided to retire from the game he fell in love with.

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In 2016, during the times when didn't have a club, he started drawing bit by bit. This is where he found his new love and in the process, a new career. David, now 28, said: "I met some great people playing football through the national team and at Liverpool. Sadly, my career didn't go as planned. It was a rollercoaster. I played abroad and kept getting injured and as I kept getting older, football just kept getting harder. I knew I couldn't keep playing.

"I knew how to draw but I never took it seriously. In 2016, I started doing a little bit in my off time when I was in between clubs. I would start painting on some trainers, and sell them to some of my friends. Slowly, it started to pick up. In 2017, I did my first canvas painting and sold it for £300. Nowadays, my canvases start from around £8,000 The journey has been a crazy one. I made more money in my first 18 months as an artist than I did in my whole career as a footballer."

In 2018, David moved to Manchester