“What’s up, bro?”
A firm handshake, followed by a loud laugh.
“Did you write after my first game against Club Brugge that I was a waste of a transfer?”
“They called me a flop. Like, yo, that’s so crazy. After one game. I went home and wrote that sentence down. Every morning before heading to training, I looked at it. It was fuel for me. To improve, to prove everyone wrong. Seventeen goals (19 goals now) and five assists… that’s not a joke, and definitely not a waste anymore, right?
Promise sat down. For a forty-five-minute talk. Unfiltered and uncensored. Sorry for all the swearing.
On the motorbike
Brampton, Ontario, Canada. A breeding ground for local football talent. Players like Atiba Hutchinson (ex-PSV and Besiktas), Cyle Larin, Tajon Buchanan (both ex-Club Brugge), and Promise David hail from there.
“But it’s not in Brampton that I found my love for football,” he says. “When I was a toddler, I spent a few years in Nigeria – in Belkuta, Lagos – living with my grandparents. My uncle was a huge Chelsea fan. I’ll never forget how he used to pick me up at my grandma’s. I’d sit on the back of his motorbike and we’d ride to the bar to watch games together.”
“When I moved back to Canada, that’s when I started playing football. I was a hectic kid and needed to burn off energy. At first, I played piano… but it broke – I was so pissed at that moment. I went looking for something else, and that’s how I found football.”
It’s not the obvious choice in Canada. Football isn’t the most popular sport there.
“Oh, but I’m good at basketball too. In every country I’ve lived in, I take my basketball shoes with me. I look for courts nearby and play 3-on-3 or 2-on-2. I did it just last week. Bro, I’m so good at it. I’m really good.” (laughs)
“Those other guys always ask me what team I play for. I’m not a great shooter, but defensively… I’m solid. I’m a big fan of LeBron James – even though he used to crush my Toronto Raptors in the playoffs – and DeMar DeRozan, a cult hero for the team.”
“But yeah, I wanted to be a footballer. At first for fun, and later it got serious. Everyone at school knew me as ‘the football kid’ because I was obsessed. I chose the Toronto Academy. Then, at 15, I got cut. For the first time in my life, I was told I wasn’t good enough.”
“Not long after, I went to Croatia. A young kid in a foreign country… I was alone, but I made friends for life.”
Promise ended up at NK Trnje Zagreb, a third division club.
“Not the biggest club, right? Still, it felt like I was playing at the Bernabéu every day. Playing in Europe was a dream.” (laughs)
“And my dad’s VISA card was a big help. No, bro… it was tough sometimes. Things happened in Croatia that I didn’t even dare tell my parents. A lot of bullshit you have to learn to deal with.”
“I didn’t have a proper apartment. (blows air) It was a shit show. One time a teammate asked if he could stop by. I said ‘no’ – it was too bad to show. So he secretly followed me one day. I was living above a car shop, on the second floor. No bed, just a shower. He saw it and said I could crash at his place. That was… cool. My time in Croatia taught me a lot. Some important life lessons. But most of all: I learned how to persevere.”
Racism
Off the field wasn’t the only struggle. What Promise experienced with his coach in Zagreb…
“Where do I start? That man…” (blows air) “He didn’t want Black people, no Africans, in his team. At first, I didn’t even realize. But during internal training games, I was always the one who had to run laps. All the time. He also said crazy stuff to me. Like ‘Crnac’ – which means ‘Blackie’. Or he once yelled: ‘fucking black, go get that cone.’ (pauses) One time, my teammates only told me a month later what he had shouted during training. They said it was too awful to repeat right away. Everyone froze when he said it. It was something like, ‘God forbid I ever have to field a Black player.’
What the hell, bro. How can you see the world like that?”
“Eventually, I was sent back to the youth team. But that’s where I found joy again. A blessing in disguise. I made friends. The coach (Rajko Vidovic) believed in me – even though he barely spoke English. Rajko became the first-team coach and gave me a shot. In my debut, I came off the bench and scored right away.” (laughs)
“It was the biggest fuck-you moment of my life. Felt like revenge on that one man.”
World Cup 2026
Promise left Zagreb and, on advice from his agent, moved to Tulsa in the U.S.
“That’s where I started building strength and muscle.” But he didn’t get any game time there, and moved to Valletta, Malta.
“I lost a cup final there. That broke me. I’ve only cried about football three times in my life. That match was one of them. My niece Liz was in the stadium and she took a picture of me on the big screen. Just at the moment I was crying.” (laughs)
“Man, I’m ugly when I cry.”
“In Malta, I also played for Sirens. A failure. And then… My parents wanted me to come home. Until then, they had always supported me. But they couldn’t take it anymore. I asked for one more chance.”
That chance was Kalju, a club from Tallinn, Estonia. Once again, it didn’t become a success story.
“I played with the U23s, scoring hat-tricks for fun every week, while the first team kept getting hammered.”
That Union, of all clubs, discovered him there…
Union SG Sezon başı, Estonya 1. Liginden 400 Bin Euro’ya alınan Promise David
— Alper Ünal 🇹🇷 (@alpertunga_unal) April 14, 2025
Bu sezon 34 maç 19 gol 5 asist yaptı. Şu an değeri 6 milyon Euro oldu.
İşte scout transferi böyle olur Serdal Adalı bey, illa 18 yaşında olmasına gerek yok
pic.twitter.com/2VtTBpIiDf
“Luckily, they came at the right time. I didn’t hesitate for a second. I knew the club because I followed Boniface’s career. They explained their project and I was sold.”
“But I had trouble adapting to the level. Training against guys like Burgess, Machida or Mac Allister… That’s not easy. But I did everything to get better. More sleep, more training, better training. Kevin (Mirallas, striker coach) and the head coach were on top of it. I felt myself getting stronger week after week.”
The outside world noticed too. Promise developed into a powerful forward with an eye for goal. In the Jupiler Pro League, everyone now knows his name. And in mid-March, he became a Canadian international – despite having played for Nigeria’s U23s.
“I pay taxes in Canada, I grew up there, I went to school there.” (laughs)
“I remember exactly when Chris (O’Loughlin, sporting director) called to tell me the national team was tracking me. It was 11 PM. I saw an unknown number – he’d never given me his number – and I answered. ‘Why aren’t you asleep?’ he asked. I said: ‘Wait, who the fuck is this? I’m cooking.’”
“Anyway, I’m proud to be an international. We’re co-hosting the 2026 World Cup, and weirdly enough, that’s always been my dream. Two years ago, I wrote it down on a whiteboard in Kalju’s locker room. ‘Road to the World Cup ’26.’ (pulls out phone) I still have proof. My teammates laughed at it. But I always believed in it.”
Sponsor
On the way to the photoshoot, Promise jokes:
“Not too long, OK? I still have to go to the supermarket and everything closes early in Belgium. Back home, everything’s open 24/7. Took me a while to get used to that.”
“Oh, you know what I miss? You guys have Quick here for burgers. But in Canada, we have Tim Hortons. Know it? They specialize in coffee and donuts. Love it. I always order the same thing: a fruit explosion muffin, a chocolate chip cookie, an apple fritter – a cinnamon donut with cream cheese – and a hot chocolate. Definitely try it if you’re ever in Canada.
What do you think – maybe Tim Hortons should sponsor me?” (laughs)
“It’d save me thousands of dollars anyway.”
By Frank Dekeyser
