From Estonia's Third Tier to the Premier League: He Says He Was Just a Backpacker

It took Promise David just two years to go from Estonia's third tier to making a substitute appearance in the Premier League. The 25-year-old forward made his Premier League debut in Brighton's 3-4 away defeat to Chelsea on Sunday, and after the match he shared his so-called “backpacker”-style journey through European football.

Receiving a call from a Belgian club, his first reaction was that it was a scam

David recalled that when Belgian club Union Saint-Gilloise first contacted him, he could hardly believe it. “They have a very impressive data scouting system, that's all I can say,” David said. “They picked me out from a sea of people, but said they had been following me for a while. At first I thought it was spam, like a scam. Because if you are playing in the third division in Estonia, you don't expect a team playing in the Europa League to call you. But they did, and I went. A few months later, I had the best time of my life.”

At the time, David was playing for Estonian club Nõmme Kalju and regularly represented the U21 team in the third division. He and his agent saw the message from Union Saint-Gilloise together. “My agent at the time and I both saw it, and I said, ‘No, this isn't real.’ Then we had a Zoom meeting, and I said, ‘Oh my God, it really is them,’” David said. “They gave me a full introduction, but I had already said yes before the introduction. It was like sitting in a job interview when you have already accepted the job and are still listening to all the talk, while I was already there. I was packing my suitcase while on the phone, thinking about how to pack everything. Two weeks later, I arrived in Belgium.”

From Croatia to Malta and then Estonia, a “backpacking” journey along the way

The reason David was so eager to join Union Saint-Gilloise — the Brussels club in Belgium's top division in which Brighton owner and chairman Tony Bloom holds a stake — was that his previous career path looked more like a student's European gap-year trip than a traditional route toward the Premier League spotlight.

“I spent a year and a half in Croatia's third division (with Trnje), eight months in the USL in America (with Tulsa), and I didn't play,” he told a small group of reporters after making his Premier League debut at Stamford Bridge. “I spent a year in Malta (with Valletta U21 and the first team), a year in Estonia, first playing third-tier U21 football and then six months with the first team, and after that two years at Union Saint-Gilloise.”

“I was just backpacking around Europe, playing football for fun and seeing where the next stop would be. I never stayed anywhere for long, always packing my bags and moving on. I found a truly good place. Actually, I didn't find it; Union Saint-Gilloise found me. There, I was able to train and live like a professional player, and good things followed. Then, boom, I was here.”

Joined Brighton on loan this summer with a mandatory purchase clause

David joined Brighton on a season-long loan in August, and a few days later the team began the new season with a 4-0 win over Aston Villa at the American Express Stadium. The deal includes a mandatory purchase clause worth £22 million (approximately $29.7 million) if certain conditions are met. So far, the easygoing 25-year-old forward has maintained his scoring efficiency at every level where he has played.