Jovan Kasujja: Hounslow is Home | OneFootball

After a strong start to the calendar year, Brentford Under-18s striker Jovan Kasujja sat down to discuss his idol Neymar, growing up in Hounslow and returning home, and how his faith helps him focus on building a career in the game.

Kasujja joined the Bees from Norwich City Academy as a first-year scholar ahead of the 2025/26 season.

Although he spent a lot of his adolescence in Norfolk, he has Hounslow firmly rooted in his heart.

“I'm from Hounslow,” he explained. “That's a big reason why I chose to come back down here, to be back at home, living with my family.

“I left for Norwich on my 13th birthday. It was hard moving up to digs; you can’t rely on people as much and you must learn how to do things yourself and be independent.

“Looking back on it, it's taught me a lot. Mentally I've developed, I've become stronger and I know how to take care of myself better as a footballer.”

Kasujja spoke about the trial period. Although it was difficult, Brentford felt like the perfect fit.

“When I got the news that Brentford wanted me, I was buzzing. It’s my local club, a good place to be around and I felt at home from the very first day," he said.

“Going into pre-season, I was a bit nervous, but the boys helped me feel welcome.

“You're walking into a room, and you know no one. It's a lot harder because all of them have been with each other for however many years.

“It's hard, but the easiest place to go out and do it is on the pitch where you can showcase how good you are.”

The young forward has had a strong start to the calendar year and reflected on what he has had to add to his game.

“The biggest challenge for me was transitioning from playing as a 7 or 11, into a 9,” he said.

“At the beginning of the season I was struggling a bit. The coaches told me that hold-up play was one of the things I needed to work on. I try every game to show for the ball and work on it as much as possible.

“Coming back into the new year, it’s three goals and an assist in three games.

“That's down to me putting the hours in, the help of the coaches and all the analysis team going through clips. It's not just me, it's everything. I'm still pushing to get to that next level.”

Alongside his hard work, Kasujja puts his success down to his faith.

“It plays a huge role,” he said.

“I don't just go out onto the pitch and hope for the best, I have faith in Jesus that he's going to help me play to the best of my ability and that everything's in his hands.

“We pray in the team huddle. We have people from different religions and those who aren’t Christian, still respect it. I think it's good having that connection with everyone in the team.

“There's a group of boys who are all Christians and there's certain people that will lead the prayer on a matchday, like Nate [Ogungbemi], Domeiro [Bobb-Semple] and me.”

Back home and relishing the chance to represent the Bees, Kasujja looked back at how a certain Brazilian winger inspired his entry into the game.

“The reason I started playing football is because of Neymar,” he explained.

“He was one of my biggest inspirations growing up due to his faith and seeing the way he enjoys himself on the pitch.

“Being able to have that child-like feeling when you're on the pitch, that’s what I want.”

Kasujja and the Bees are in action at Jersey Road on Saturday as they take on Cardiff City (11.30am kick-off).