TIAGO ILORI says his move to Reading is a chance to “set things right again” after a frustrating three-and-a-half year spell at Liverpool.
Ilori came straight into the Royals side for his debut at Derby County on Saturday before making his Madejski Stadium bow as a substitute during the midweek win over Fulham.
Born in London to a Portuguese mother and Nigerian father and moving to Portugal aged seven, Ilori has had far from the traditional upbringing.
But after rising through the ranks at his boyhood club Sporting Lisbon and featuring for the international youth sides, Liverpool, managed by former Royals boss Brendan Rodgers, came calling with a deal worth a reported £7 million in 2013.
However, after just three first team appearances for the Reds, all in the FA Cup, and three loan spells away, the 23-year-old is glad to call time on his spell in Merseyside.
“I only left my former club Sporting with the idea that I was going to go and play and have a real chance from the get go,” explained Ilori.
“Things didn’t happen that way.
“I went out on loan a couple of times and things just dragged on a little bit.
“I can’t blame anyone but myself, I obviously didn’t do something right, that’s why now I’ve looked to make this change so I can set things right again.”
He added: “I’ve got great respect for Liverpool.
“Obviously it didn’t work out perfectly for my career, I didn’t get the game time I expected but these things happen.
“When I signed at the time I had a few options and I chose Liverpool thinking it would be the best one.
“Even though I didn’t play the games I wanted to for Liverpool, I still developed as a player and as a person so there are positives to take from these last three-and-a-half years.”
After coming through the youth ranks, Ilori left Portugal having played 34 times for the Sporting Lisbon first team.
And he was walking down a well trodden path with the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Luis Figo, Nani and more recently Tottenham Hotspur’s Eric Dier also spending their younger years in the Portuguese capital.
“I played pretty much my whole youth, the bulk of it, in Sporting,” said Ilori.
“If you look around at the generation I was in, 93-94, there’s a lot of players that are starting to establish themselves all coming from Sporting.
“I was seven when I moved to Portugal, my mum is Portuguese and we made that change when I was seven. It was a different language but when we moved we went to a school where me and my brother and sister learnt English.
“That’s why I still speak English otherwise I’d probably be speaking Portuguese now. Where we went in Portugal everyone speaks English, there’s a lot of English people there. The change wasn’t huge, mostly the weather but I was young anyway so didn’t really feel it.
“I go back to Portugal all the time, whenever I get a chance. I’ve still got a lot of friends in Portugal and in Sporting.”
After just six months with Liverpool, Rodgers decided to let Ilori leave the club on his first loan to play some regular football at La Liga strugglers Granada.
He then spent the entire 2014-15 campaign with French side Bordeaux before a forgettable six month stint at Aston Villa, where he played no first team games.
And Ilori says those experiences have helped him develop as a player.
“It’s not easy as you start from scratch every time you go to another club,” he said.
“But it’s definitely good. You have to go with the right mentality and try to get the best out of it. Sometimes it’s difficult knowing you’re going to be there for a short amount of time, but if you go there with the right mentality you can definitely grow as a player and as a person.
“I went to different types of teams which I think is important to express. When I went to Spain and with Granada, they were in a more difficult position in the table at the time.
“It went to the last game for us to stay in the First Division. Even though we didn’t deserve to be in that position, we had a good team, it was difficult. I wouldn’t say we were defending in all the games or anything but we were fighting and every game was important, every point was important.”
He continued: “In Bordeaux it was a lot more relaxed in the sense that we weren’t going to go down.
“The leagues are different but I think it’s to do with the teams and the way I felt, my mentality at the time, my age and where I was at the time mentally.
“I was in a better place when I went to Spain, 100%. I wouldn’t say I learnt more but I was happier in Spain. Not just because of where it is and that it’s more familiar for me but because of where I was mentally.
“I can’t really say much about Aston Villa, I don’t pick the team. It was unstable as everyone knows. Aston Villa didn’t have a great year so there was a lot going on at the club.”
And after that disappointing spell in the Midlands, Ilori says this move away had to be a permanent one, for the good of all parties.
“I think it was best for me and for Liverpool,” he said.
“They couldn’t guarantee me playing time, I needed it and it’s better for me to probably go somewhere where they are going to invest in me for the long-term, not just the short-term.
“That’s good for me, for Reading and for Liverpool. I think it worked out best for the three. There were plans for me to leave last summer but things just didn’t work out.”
He added: “Jaap Stam is someone I’m sure everyone in every position can learn a lot from.
“He played at the highest level and wants experience that to rub off and wants to teach everyone one-to-one, the whole team. He’s a very personable coach.
“I have a lot of mixture in my family of teams they support. Some parts of my family did support Manchester United, others more London teams so I grew up watching the Premier League and watching the best.
“It didn’t take long for me to realise that Reading was the place for me to be at this point in my career.
“I’m sure I’ve made the right decision.”
