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New Leicester City striker Davide Lorenzo has spoken up about his storied journey to the Premier League, after signing a contract with the 2015/16 champions following a trial. 

Lorenzo was initially a part of Juventus' vaunted academy, but was ultimately released, and enjoyed several failed spells in Norway, Malta, Belgium and Switzerland before giving up his footballing dream to become a waiter in Nice, France.

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But it was there that the Italian met Leicester's late owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, who offered him a trial with the Foxes. After impressing with the reserve team in this trial period, the 24-year-old has now been handed a professional contract.

And, speaking to Italian publication Tutto Mercato Web, Lorenzo declared: “I am happy to have achieved this goal, I have pursued it for so long…I know that the contract was a consequence of the actions I have done inside and, above all, outside the field.

 “I refer to all the things I have experienced in the last years, during which I learned so much from my mistakes, now I just have to continue like this, training hard every day to get more emotions like that.”

Because of his inspiring and unconventional route to the top, Lorenzo has earned comparisons with Leicester's current number nine, Jamie Vardy.

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However, he laughed off these comparisons, proclaiming: "No, I do not agree. At my age, he was already a professional in minor leagues and had already won several titles of top scorer in England"

But he did admit that he understood the similarities, and conceded the Englishman inspired him to further improve: “My story is similar to his, it is true, but also profoundly different. To reach what he has achieved is my goal.”