Birmingham CIty: The Man City signing now playing in the Croatian second tier: View | OneFootball

Keyendrah Simmonds is looking to kickstart his career after a tough time in the Football League

Not every footballer’s career pans out the way they thought it would, and Keyendrah Simmonds is one of the finest examples of that in the current day.

After coming through the Man City academy, there was every hope that the frontman could prove himself in the Football League when he joined Birmingham City in February 2021.

But things didn’t work out for the player at St. Andrew’s with just two substitute appearances all he had to show for his efforts in the Midlands, while he spent four months on loan with League Two Grimsby Town.

And 14 months after his departure, the attacker finds himself plying his trade in the Croatian second tier with NK Vukovar 1991, as he tries to rediscover some form in front of goal on the Serbian border.

Keyendrah Simmonds fails to make the grade at Manchester City and Birmingham City

Like so many players who come through the academy with the Premier League champions, Simmonds failed to make a single appearance for the blue half of Manchester, before departing for St. Andrew’s in 2021.

The frontman had featured for City’s youth side on a regular basis, although failed to find the back of the net during his matches in the Premier League 2, before escaping to the then-Championship side.

A late appearance in a 5-2 defeat to Blackburn Rovers on the final day of the 2020/21 season was the only chance the attacker got to prove himself in league action during his time as a Blues player, with his only regular spell of first-team football coming while on loan with the Mariners.

Then-City boss Aitor Karanka was adamant the forward would make an impact during his time at the club, with the Spaniard saying at the time, via Birmingham Live: “At the beginning he is going to be an Under-23 player but his quality has been massive, he has been training with the first team squad at City, which is difficult.

“You can see his quality but he needs time and needs to realise it is a long path in front of him.

“I have liked what I have seen of him with the first team but it is different, you can have the quality but the intensity and everything is different. We need to be careful with him and take it step-by-step.”

But that potential never seemed to come to fruition, with the young star subject to numerous performances from the substitutes’ bench for Grimsby, with just a single league start to his name, as well as three more in the EFL Trophy.

It was in the latter competition where he notched his only goal for the club, as he got one over on his old employers with the opener against Manchester City under-21s side, before returning back to the wilderness of reserve team football soon after.

With his release from St Andrew’s coming last summer, Simmonds was left pondering his options as his World fell apart before his eyes, and seemingly took 12 months away from the game.

Keyendrah Simmonds has surprisingly landed in Croatian football

It wasn’t until August of this year that Simmonds signed for NK Vukovar 1991, with the Croatian outfit more than happy to take a player onboard who had the grounding in football he received when he was younger.

Posting on their Instagram page, the club wrote [translation]: “Our new player is 22-year-old Keyendrah Simmonds, who arrives from Manchester.

“He is an English offensive player who went through Manchester City's football school, one of the best schools in the world.

“Keyendrah was a member of Birmingham City and Grimsby Town, and has five appearances and one goal for England's junior national team.

“In City, he had the opportunity to train with numerous stars such as Raheem Sterling [pictured], and in Vukovar he will try to show his football talent, which we have no doubts about. Welcome.”

Whether knowing England stars of the past will effect his game in Croatia remains to be seen, with the striker continuing where he left off in England during his early performances, with no goals to speak of in his first six matches.

But with his current employers preparing for a title challenge in the season ahead, a spell in the sun-kissed country could be exactly what he needs to rediscover his love for the game, and get back firing on all cylinders.