Agyemang ready to be driving force after crossing pond for Rams

“I HAD to keep telling myself, stay left, stay left,” laughs Patrick Agyemang as he recounts his introduction to driving in England.

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“It was too funny at first but I now have it sorted and it’s fine.”

There is much to discuss with Derby County’s £5.9m American signing, who is not just finding rhythm behind the wheel but also on the pitch.

Having finally recovered from a double hernia operation, he made two substitute appearances before his first start in Saturday’s 1-1 away draw against Wrexham and has provided a tantalising glimpse of his ability.

For somebody who is 6ft 4in, he is blisteringly quick, direct and you can understand why he was the most expensive outlay of the David Clowes era.

He is engaging company as he discusses fulfilling the dream of playing in Europe in a journey that began in East Hartford, Connecticut.

A love of football was passed on by his father, Patrick Snr, and was aided by video game tournaments with his brothers and friends.

“My family is an athletic family,” he says. “We all love sports and my dad was a goalkeeper when he was growing up. He played in Ghana but not professionally.

“He loved the game. He loved watching the Ghana national team. He loved watching Manchester United and the Premier League teams.

“Once I was born and got going, it was just like a natural process for me because I knew he loved it and my brothers and I grew to love it as well.

“We had a good community in East Hartford that played football every week. My closest friends all played and, at that point, it kept us together, and it felt like a family environment.

“It felt like my second home. My closest friends and I all picked teams and we enjoyed watching the games.

“Barcelona's my team, and it was funny because we had played Pro Evolution Soccer in 2008-2009, and my brother and I just picked the first team that came up in the game.