Back in the summer of 2020 then-Inter Milan boss Antonio Conte was focused on winning Serie A.
With no under-23 team to bridge the gap, Ryan Nolan found himself out in the third tier of Italian football with Arezzo.
Italy was both one of the first and worst hit during the coronavirus pandemic which saw that season curtailed six months in.
“I wanted to go back to Spain because it felt like home,” recalls the Raith Rovers centre-half.
“Getting into the first team was impossible. Conte brought in [Romelu] Lukaku and [Alexis] Sanchez that summer.
“They won the title, so he came to win.”
La Liga move
That’s when a move to Getafe was mooted.
The La Liga side had made the last 16 of the Europa League the season before.
Nolan was to start with the B team in the third tier in Spain before progressing to the first team.
Ryan Nolan starts for Getafe B 🇮🇪⚽️👊#COYBIG pic.twitter.com/y0OgecG4sw
— Kenny's Kids (@KennysKids) November 8, 2020
He did just that until disaster struck, pretty much on the eve of his debut.
“I thought it was the perfect opportunity,” continues Nolan.
“I started the first four or five games with the B team and did well.
“I remember on a Wednesday I went to train with the first team – I did well the weekend before.
“He started asking me a few questions about where I was before.”
Debut snatched away
After Nolan explained his past to José Bordalás the manager told him he was with the first team now.
Ryan Nolan is travelling with the Getafe senior squad for tomorrow's game against Eibar 🇮🇪⚽️🔥#COYBIG #LaLiga https://t.co/Y0rXrX9Yyq
— Kenny's Kids (@KennysKids) November 21, 2020
The Irishman trained with them for a few months, making the bench for two La Liga matches.
“I was very close to making my debut versus Seville,” he says.
“One of the centre-halves on the day of the match, he had to get a painkilling injection to play.
“So they were telling me to be ready.”
A second chance
In the end his teammate pulled through but it wasn’t long until another opportunity was presented.
“We were meant to play in the Copa del Rey against a lower-league team – the Conference or League 2 of Spanish football,” Nolan continues.
“The gaffer told me I was going to start that game.
“I was meant to play on the Thursday and I injured my ACL [anterior cruciate ligament] – on the Tuesday.”
It came during training with no one near him and put him out for 11 months.
“It was a really difficult moment because to go from on the verge of making your debut… and you see you’re getting close and you see you are good enough – because in training I saw I was good enough.
“From that to having two operations and not being able to walk for a month, it’s very difficult mentally.”
Move to Kirkcaldy Riviera
From this – and living away from home at such a young age – Nolan has become mentally stronger.
Even at 23-years-old Ian Murray has asked him to be a leader alongside 18-year-old Connor O’Riordan.
He is also encouraged by being asked the manager to build from defence.
“He’s asked us to not be sacred to play the ball from the back – through lines or wherever – and to express ourselves,” says Nolan.
“That’s the most important thing a manager can say.
“You want to do well and you want to express yourself, so it’s good to get the confidence from the gaffer in that sense.
After signing for Northampton very late last season – and understandably finding first-team action harder to come by – Nolan chose Stark’s Park as his next destination.
“After the injury I wanted to go to a good club where I could do well – and get as much game time as I can,” he adds.
“I feel physically and mentally in a good place and I’m ready to kick on and have a good season.”
This is part one in a two-part series. In part one of the interview Ryan Nolan spoke about his move to Inter Milan and his initiation song at Raith.
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