“I was never scared to look for challenges,” Thilo Kehrer says as he thinks about leaving Kylian Mbappé, Lionel Messi and Neymar behind for a fight for Premier League survival. The defender is in a thoughtful but confident mood. He has not had an easy time since moving to England last summer and yet, as he prepares to face Tottenham this afternoon, there is no sign the Germany international regrets swapping dominance at Paris Saint‑Germain for a season of unease at West Ham.
“I was always open to things that would challenge me in a way that might risk struggling,” Kehrer says. “But I always knew that overcoming this would make me better as a player and grow as a person. It has been the absolute right step. The Premier League is different to Ligue 1 or the Bundesliga. It was exciting to watch the league. It’s even more exciting to play in it.”
