Football: Boateng brings the Keane edge

Ronald Atkin says Villa may have found an all-action man

IT WAS watching Premiership football on Dutch TV that changed George Boateng's life. Captain of Holland's Under-21 side and established in the Feyenoord team, he goggled in amazement as Liverpool and Newcastle played that incredible 4-3 match two years ago.

"I was really fascinated because the Dutch league is very technical," he said. "Every single set piece or play on the pitch has been thought about, so it's hard to break through. If you are 2-0 up that means you have won the game."

When the chance came to move to Coventry City for pounds 250,000 in December 1997, Boateng seized it. Two years on, the Ghana-born midfielder's reputation has soared, along with his worth. Despite complaints from Coventry about an illegal approach, Boateng was sold to Aston Villa for pounds 4.5m last month.

Dion Dublin, who also trod the path from Coventry to Villa, reckons Boateng can become as good as Roy Keane. "He is everywhere on the pitch, back in defence, fighting for the ball in midfield, pressing forward into attack. He wants to do everything, just like Keane does."

Right now, Boateng is tickled that he is one of the few overseas footballers in the English game to have played for two clubs. "That probably means I'm more British now," he said, unleashing a dazzling smile. The 23-year- old is a neat guy, in the American sense. Perfect teeth, manners to match, flawless English, a geometrically trimmed goatee, considerate enough to lead your correspondent into a quiet dressing room at Villa's training ground to escape the clamour of visiting children.

George has come a long way from street football in Accra, where he spent his first 10 years. "I had boots but I didn't wear them. I liked barefoot better, for some reason, although there were rocks on the ground and every time you fell over you cut your knees." After complaints from his mother about the state of his kit Boateng turned his shorts and shirt inside out before playing. "Mum said how neat I looked until she had to wash the clothes and then she said `Oh, he has become clever now'." So clever that, at 10, George left for Holland, where his remarried father was living, in search of a better education. The skills learned in street football won him a place in a junior team at his home just outside Rotterdam and, at 16, he was signed by Feyenoord. In his time there, Boateng played every position except goalkeeper, striker and left wing.

"When Gordon Strachan came for me he said I could play midfield at Coventry, so I thought: `This is my chance'. My contract at Feyenoord had six months to go and they had offered me a new four-year deal. It was a good contract, but I wasn't sure where they wanted to play me." Also, he wanted to get involved in those 4-3 games. So, just before Christmas in 1997 he moved to England.

"I took a little step backwards to establish myself in the Premier League," he explained. "There were high-profile teams from Spain and Italy who wanted to sign me, but I thought the chance of playing regularly at those clubs was smaller than at Coventry. I knew I would be in a team fighting relegation but thought my chance of getting into the Dutch side would be better if I was playing every week. I signed a three-and-a-half year contract with the idea that when I completed it I would move back to the level I was at before."

Boateng precisely remembers his time with Coventry - "46 games, seven goals" - and it was two of those goals, scored in a game against Villa, which attracted the attention of John Gregory. Boateng insisted: "I signed a contract with Coventry and was willing to see it out. I told Gordon Strachan that before we went to Frankfurt for a pre-season training camp and he said: `Good, brilliant, happy to hear that because I have a nice position for you this season'. When we got back from the camp this same man rang me up and said: `Guess what? You can go and speak to Villa.'

"So my move back to a big club came sooner than I expected, which was great. Now my main priority is to get a first-team place at Villa Park because if the club is doing well that's when you get close to international level."

As a devout Christian, non-smoker and someone who drinks wine or champagne only at times of celebration, Boateng has adapted well to the fact that alcohol plays a big part in the social side of British football. "Things like drinking on the coach coming back from a game are not me. I am trying to settle in but there are things I will never do to become one of them. If one or two like a couple of pints, then they can go ahead. I am not saying I don't drink because I want to be different, it's because I don't like it. Also I am a Christian and a Christian should not be boozed in the morning going to his work."

George is delighted with Villa's maximum-points start and plans to help continue it in tomorow night's game with West Ham. "My best foot is my right," he explained. "My left foot is more chocolate, soft, but I try to do as much as I can with it. I prefer to play in the middle of the park because I like getting the ball off people, passing it to others and, if there is room, to push on forward."

Just like Roy Keane, in fact. He nods. "This is a big opportunity for me at Villa, a chance to show the rest of the world who George Boateng is."