Bristol City star on Chelsea and Liverpool idols, his Premier League dream and a difficult journey

Bristol City winger Anis Mehmeti has revealed the ex-Premier League stars he has shaped his game on and affirmed his ambition to play at the highest level.

Mehmeti joined the Robins from Wycombe Wanderers on a three-and-a-half-year deal in January and has hit the ground running at Ashton Gate.

Though the Albanian is yet to score, his exciting and aggressive dribbling has wowed the City faithful and it seems there is still plenty more to come from the young talent.

When asked which players he admires and has tried to emulate his style from, the 22-year-old replied: “Hazard when he was at Chelsea, Coutinho when he was at Liverpool, Neymar… Players like that. Also number 10’s, the game has changed, I used to really like Ozil as a player as a left-footer, Santi Cazorla was also a good player.”

Mehmeti has played predominantly on the left so far under Nigel Pearson but often operated more centrally in his time at the Chairboys, and even he isn’t sure which role suits him best.

While fellow City talent Alex Scott has been the name rumoured to be on the lips of several topflight clubs, Mehmeti expressed his belief that he himself can reach England’s top division.

“I have my goals, I think if I didn’t have my goals, it'd be something to worry about,” he said. “I want to be the best, I want to play at the highest level and I’m confident I will achieve that in the near future. But right now I just have to focus on improving every day.”

Mehmeti’s ex-boss Gareth Ainsworth, now at QPR, spoke about the ex-Tottenham schoolboy in his pre-Wigan Athletic press conference on Thursday. Ainsworth disclosed that the attacker could easily make it to the Premier League, which Mehmeti insisted will act as even more motivation.

“He believes in me a lot, and without being too arrogant, I believe in myself a lot too. I like the pressure, I like people saying that about me because then I can really kick on and do it,” he added.

While Mehmeti is fast making a name for himself as one of the Championship’s brightest talents, he hasn’t had a straightforward route to where he is now.

When the winger was released from Norwich City in 2019, he spent time in the ninth tier of English football but insisted the experience he gained there has proved extremely valuable.

“I was in the academy set up from eight years old, and then they terminated my deal with Norwich and I found myself without a club for a couple of months. A friend of mine's dad was at Woodford Town and he said to come and keep fit before another club brings you in and that’s what I did. I played there for a couple of months and then Covid hit, I went to Wycombe on trial in the summer and it all went from there.

“Being in an academy all your life, you never really look at non-league, you always think non-league is the bottom of the barrel, you don’t wanna go there, but I found myself there and it did me well. The physicality, the little things you learn in the lower leagues like picking up second balls, which you don’t get taught in academy setups, in the men's game they’re the important things, winning your duals. It did help me get to where I am now.”

Mehmeti’s drive and ambition to be the best version of himself are clear, and he believes those qualities stem from his family.

He explained: “I think it's been from the beginning really. I come from a family with a strong belief, a big drive, they want me to do well so I take that into myself every day. The support from my family drives me to be the very best because they’ve put so much time into me, going everywhere for me to chase my dreams, it’s just about repaying them.”

While the young talent is not shy on confidence, he acknowledged the importance of appreciating his journey, and that he doesn’t take anything for granted.

When asked if he sometimes has to pinch himself when thinking about how much he has progressed over recent years, the City no.11 replied:

“Yes and no. It's human nature that you always want more. I'm the type of guy that always expects more from myself and I'm always trying to better myself, so in terms of that sometimes I do. But you’ve also got to be grateful because if you constantly want more and more, you don’t appreciate the now.”