Premier League to League Two via China: Ex-Chelsea prospect Frank Nouble prepare for FA cup action with Newport

Exclusive: The 26-year-old documents his journey from playing with Alexandre Pato to fighting for Newport County's Football League lives

Nouble is preparing to face Leeds in the FA Cup third round on Saturday (Getty)

When Leeds United travel to face League Two side Newport County in the FA Cup on Sunday, the Welsh side will boast a diverse set of CVs, with players having represented Barking, Dulwich Hamlet, Jerez Industrial, Pacos de Ferreira and Tianjin Quanjin.

The Chinese experience comes courtesy of striker Frank Nouble who spent a year in the Far East plying his trade after deciding what was on offer outside Europe. The former West Ham and Ipswich forward admits he learned a lot from his experiences in China but decided the country was not for him, so returned to English football in the summer of 2016.

Since coming back to Britain the 26-year-old has had spells at Gillingham and Southend United but both ended without Nouble making a mark in League One. In 2017 he was once again out of work and the man who can boast of Premier League experience as a teenager was considering his options, decided to join Newport County on a free transfer. The club performed a miraculous recovery to stay in the Football League with a last-minute winner on the final day of the season, so it was a world away from Chinese football, but Nouble thought it was the right place to kick-start his career under the guidance of manager Mike Flynn.

“Like any other place I’ve been to before, I’ve just seen it as a challenge where I want to try and do well. I think the manager was quite a selling point for me; having spoken to him and a few other managers at different clubs in League Two, in particular, he’s the one that stood out of all them,” Nouble told The Independent. “He’s a young manager wanting to do well and he had a miracle of a year last year, so I thought momentum is important in football, so I thought if I go there, if I can add to it, it could be a positive year and we can surprise people. I always want to be the underdog, I like being the underdog in most things I do and try to prove doubters wrong. So far it’s turned out alright and long may that continue.”

Under Flynn, Newport recovered from being 11 points adrift of safety when he replaced Graham Westley in March. Few believed the club could survive but seven wins in their last 12 games was enough to move them out of the relegation zone in the last-minute of the season.

Asked what makes Flynn different, Nouble said: “It’s man-management, obviously he was a player not long ago, he was Newport player last season before he became the coach. He just knows players, he knows how people get on mentally in football and that’s very important.

Nouble represented Chelsea at youth level but failed to make the grade (Getty)

“I think if you’ve got a manager that you respect, in terms of wanting to know everyone’s personality and how to react to everything, I think people always want to do well for that person. That was a big selling point for me. You can’t replace any player for quality or ability, but when you’ve got players running more for you, you get more of a chance of a better result and that’s worked out for him so far.”

Things started well for Nouble in Wales, as he scored five goals in his opening six games for the club, including a hat-trick against Chesterfield, which will be remembered by many for a stunning 35-yard goal of the season contender. Things have slowed down a bit for the former Chelsea youngster, as he’s only scored twice in the last 24 outings, but Leeds will need to be wary of Nouble.

“It’s important for me just to be playing. My time at Southend was a bit frustrating, as Phil Brown never really gave me a chance to play. For me it’s a fresh start and I am buzzing to be playing here week in, week out, whatever league it is. If you’re playing well, doing your thing, it’s the only way people can see you, so that’s what I am very happy about.

“I’m getting a full season under my belt, which I’ve not had ever. I’ve think I’ve probably had it with Mick McCarthy at Ipswich but I think everywhere else I’ve been sent out on loan halfway through the season. Here I am settled, like I was at Ipswich and I am enjoying it.”

Coming back from China has forced Nouble to re-adjust to life in England, while at the same time reflect on what he learned during his year there. Tianjin Quanjin loaned the London-born striker after six months to Nei Mongol Zhongyou where Luis Figo was part of the ownership but when he pulled out, Nouble was replaced by two new foreign players, and due to the limit of the number of non-Chinese players who can feature per game, the Englishman was left out in the cold.

“Going to China was a totally different experience, I enjoyed lots of it and didn’t enjoy parts of it. Coming back was always going to take some time, especially as in my last four months in China, I didn’t really play because of ownership trying bring in a change of manager and changes in foreign players - I ended up with Fabio Cannavaro and Alexandre Pato on my team. They made themselves clear by not letting some of the foreigners who were already there play, so it was difficult, so I came back not really being fit, so taking it step by step.

“I am now very level-headed, I never get too high or too low in any scenario, as I know how football can change very quickly and we are very privileged in England, in terms of laws and security for players. Security and rules is what you’ve got to appreciate in England, whereas in another country they’re a bit temperamental in the way they treat scenarios in the game, so I’ve taken that back here with me. I think it’s helped me out with how I approach every game and training and my team-mates can see that I’ve grown up and I’m a bit more responsible.”

Nouble moved to West Ham after his youth stint at Chelsea (Getty)

Leeds are next up for the more mature Nouble, as he looks to show he can compete at a higher level in England. Newport sit just three points outside the League Two play-offs and will be looking to make their mark against a team who defeated them 5-1 in the League Cup earlier in the season. In the FA Cup, The Exiles have already caused one upset by seeing off League One Walsall, a game in which Nouble score, followed by knocking out Cambridge in the Second Round.

“It’s a massive game, we played them earlier in the season and I didn’t play; we did well in the first-half and went in to the break at 1-1. We went on to lose 5-1 but that doesn’t tell the story of the game.

“I’ve played in the FA Cup, we’ve come through two tricky ties and we’re all looking forward to it. We know that they’re going to be thinking it’s going to be a tough game, as they’re coming to our place and we’re doing well this season and I don’t think they’re doing too badly, so it should be a good game. Anyone watching will be entertained, that’s for sure.”