Sterling's ex-England team-mate appeared in Green Street and now plays in Bosnia

A quick Google search of Matthias Fanimo throws up a quirky fact.

Alongside the usual footballer profiles, there's an IMDb page describing him as 'an actor, known for Green Street Hooligans'.

"Yeah, that's me," he says with a chuckle.

Fanimo was just 11 at the time and part of the West Ham academy when a unique opportunity arose.

"They were filming Green Street at West Ham and there were a couple of scenes that needed kids," he explains.

"They came into the academy and just literally grabbed a few of us. We filmed a training session, had a load of fun with it and it was really good.

"It was a great experience as a kid, meeting Elijah Wood and Charlie Hunnam and being part of that.

"That's a little weird fact about me - I am in Green Street!"

It was not the only time Fanimo was mixing it with the stars as a youngster - even if he didn't know it at the time.

As a 16-year-old, he captained England to victory in the 2009 Victory Shield with future superstar Raheem Sterling amongst his team-mates.

Jordan Pickford, another of England's Euro 2020 heroes, was also part of the same England age group.

"Raheem Sterling, Jordan Pickford, they've gone on to be great players for England," Fanimo says.

"I'm super proud of the boys, they've done so well, and I'm nothing but happy for them with everything they've achieved."

Fanimo showed a great deal of promise as a teenager, making his senior West Ham debut at 18 in the League Cup.

But as injuries took hold, he struggled to break into the first-team fold before being released in 2015.

"It got to a point just before I left West Ham where I kind of knew what the outcome was going to be in terms of whether I'd be offered a new contract or not," he recalls.

"At the time I made my debut, around 17, I was quite injury prone. Every time I hit a milestone, I'd get injured for a long time and that played a big part in my progression at West Ham.

"It kept getting halted and I never really accumulated a lot of games through the youth system, which I think played a big part in me dropping to the lower leagues when I left."

After his departure, Fanimo dropped to non-league but spells with Bishop's Stortford, Eastleigh, Margate and Hornchurch followed a similar trend.

Then, out of the blue, an unusual opportunity presented itself - the chance to move to Slovenia and join Drava Ptuj.

"Obviously I was at Hornchuch, literally there just to get games because, again, I injured myself whilst I was at Margate and tore my achilles," Fanimo explains.

"I was out for seven months, which pretty much summed up everything that had gone on up until that point.

"Then a guy that I was training with at the time basically knew someone who was the owner of a club in Slovenia and asked if I'd be interested in going out there.

"Obviously my first reaction was 'no, I'm not interested'. I just wanted to stay in the UK, try and work my way back up because I still believed I could.

"But after speaking with my family about everything, we decided it was an opportunity and they told me to just go for it, see how it works out."

Fanimo took the Slovenian second tier by storm in 2018/19, scoring 19 goals in 29 games and earning a move to Bosnian Premier League club Mladost Doboj Kakanj.

After another successful year, Bosnian champions FK Sarajevo came calling and Fanimo, now 27, has not looked back.

"I can say now that I don't regret making the move, it was probably one of the best things I did to kick-start my career again," he declares.

"To be honest, when I first came out here I had no clue about it, it was one of those things where I had to do loads of research.

"In terms of the football I'd maybe liken it to a high League One standard I think, maybe low Championship at a push.

"Obviously the country play European qualifiers every year, so I think that gives the top four teams a bit of a leg up over the rest in terms of quality that they bring in and the type of coaches they have.

"There are certain results recently that have been amazing - one of the teams in our league knocked out AEK Athens in the Europa Conference League which was a huge result over here.

"It just goes to show the standard is not that bad compared to what people may think if they've not heard much about the league."

Since leaving England and his injury problems behind, Fanimo has been able to hone his skills.

Having always been known for his pace, he has worked hard to improve his end product and delivered a double-figure goal tally last term.

"I'd say my pace is obviously one of my strong points, but you can't just rely on pace," he explains.

"To be honest, there have been a few players in this league considered very quick but if you don't have the brain or vision for football it doesn't really work.

"I'm a wide player, I like to contribute in goals and assists and I've been able to get a few more goals the last season or two.

"I hit double figures last season which was a personal target I'd set myself, I was glad I did that, and I'll be aiming for the same this year."

Life in Sarajevo is a far cry from his upbringing in south London.

The city possesses a chequered past having been the centre of the brutal Bosnian War between 1992 and 1995.

Walking through the streets and mixing with his team-mates, reminders of the not-so-distant past are never far away.

But Fanimo has discovered a city and country which can often be bonded by football.

"It's completely different out here," he says. "But it's good. I've learnt quite a lot about the city.

"Some of the guys have grown up with their parents during the war, it's been really difficult for a lot of them - very different to growing up in London.

"Obviously being able to see some of the effects the war has had on the city is a real eye-opener. A lot of the buildings still have bullet holes in them, chunks torn out of them where there have been explosions.

"It really allows you to see what their perspective of life was just 20-25 years ago. It's absolutely crazy, but they're all trying to move past that now which is great.

"I'd say the football now is probably at the forefront of it. You've got Edin Dzeko who is the biggest thing, people adore him, so you see football is a really big thing in bringing people together."

FK Sarajevo have been able to fly the Bosnian flag in Europe with Fanimo able to return to the United Kingdom to take on Celtic in a play-off to reach the Europa League group stages last summer.

Whilst the result was a narrow 1-0 defeat, it marked a significant moment in Fanimo's career and one which he would unlikely have reached had he not ventured down his unorthodox path.

"That was a really good experience, I really enjoyed that game," he recalls.

"It was something I looked forward to doing, and I didn't realise I'd be doing it so soon after playing abroad.

"Even though we lost 1-0, it was a really exciting day for me and a great experience to just get a taste of what I'd always wanted to do, playing European football.

"I think it threw me into the mentality in a kind of, OK, you've had a taste of it now, can you get to being there regularly?"

The taste of European football has added to Fanimo's hunger.

Whilst being abroad has been a chance to knuckle down and rebuild his career, he retains hopes of returning home in the future.

"In terms of being out here and being away from family and friends, just being able to solely concentrate on football has been a big help in a way," he says.

"The goal eventually is to come home, really. I've always wanted to finish my career playing in London.

"For me, coming abroad was a kick-start to get games under my belt and show that I'm not the injury prone player people think I am.

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"I'm obviously getting back to my full self, I'd say the only problem at the minute is because of COVID, not many teams are willing to pay a transfer fee.

"If it was a case of me going in as a free player, it'd be a lot easier for me to come home, but we'll see how it pans out."

If he does get his wish and return to England, he will return having been schooled in Eastern Europe during a successful past few years.

Whilst the days of Green Street and England honours came in his teenage years, Fanimo's twenties continue to throw up plenty of unexpected twists and turns.