EMILE HESKEY was a star in the Premier League making over 500 appearances in England’s top flight and joining the highly respected Hundred Club.
Now almost 10 years since the England international hung up his boots, a relative of his is bursting onto the scene in the Championship.
Leeds United youngster Mateo Joseph is a rising star at the Yorkshire club with goal-scoring talent in his blood.
Joseph’s father is a cousin of Heskey, but despite his dad’s English family Joseph was born in Spain.
Although he is related to the Premier League legend, Joseph admitted he didn’t see him much growing up.
In an interview with England last year, he said: “You might have seen it reported that my dad’s cousin is Emile Heskey.
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“I have met him previously at a family gathering in Leicester but I didn’t see him regularly growing up, although I would sometimes speak to his son and my cousin Jaden Heskey, who is at Manchester City now.
“I did have Heskey on the back of a Liverpool shirt growing up though because he is part of our family.”
The 20-year-old grew up in Santander where he joined the academy of La Liga 2 outfit Real Racing Club.
And after impressing in their youth set-up Joseph left home aged just 13 to move to the city of Barcelona in order to join the academy at Espanyol.
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The centre-forward spent six years with the Catalan club before leaving Spain in a move to Leeds United when his deal with Espanyol expired in 2022.
Now the exciting bagsman is impressing in his father’s birth country and has broken into the first team fold for Leeds under manager Daniel Farke.
Joseph has made 19 appearances in all competitions so far this term scoring three goals in the process.
And he burst onto the scene with a brace against Chelsea in the FA Cup when the Blues narrowly beat their Championship opponents 3-2.
Joseph may be hoping he can follow in Heskey’s footsteps if Leeds are to secure an immediate return to the Premier League this season.
The Elland Road outfit are flying high in the Championship as they battle with Ipswich Town and Leicester City for the automatic promotion places.
It won’t be totally unfamiliar surroundings for Joseph if Leeds are to head straight back up with the young gun making three substitute appearances for the club during their relegation campaign last season.
And during his academy days he impressed the the Premier League 2 – the Prem’s U21 development league – netting an outstanding 15 goals in 19 appearances for Leeds’ youth side.
Away from club football Joseph is representing his birth country of Spain and has made two appearances for the nation’s U21 squad after receiving his first call-up last month.
It’s a change for the striker who had previously chosen to represent England at youth level and made 10 appearances for the Young Lions U20 team over the past year.
It’s a coup for the Spanish side to snatch away a rising star like Joseph and a huge blow for England to lose such a talent.
Speaking to England Football last year Joseph explained how he has always supported both nations growing up.
He said: “My dad is English, of Antiguan descent, and my mum is Spanish.
“So growing up during European Championships and World Cups, we would have two flags on our balcony: a Spanish one and the English one.
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“We would support both national teams and it was like we had two teams in the tournament, which was an advantage because if one lost, we had another national team to support.
“So my family, my sisters and I have been supporting both national teams since we were young.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
