England star who won World Cup with Phil Foden now a financial advisor after losing ‘spark of football'
However, winning the Under-17s World Cup with the Three Lions in 2017 alongside the likes of Phil Foden, Marc Guehi, Morgan Gibbs-White and Jadon Sancho did not pan out how one star expected.
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While the aforementioned quartet are paid millions of pounds every year and swarmed by fans everywhere they go, for Curtis Anderson, a routine trip to the coffee shop remains a walk in the park.
Anderson, who was the Young Lions No1 goalkeeper under Steve Cooper during the tournament in India eight years ago, has switched career from safe hands to safe financial advice.
The 24-year-old now heads the sports department for an independent financial adviser, spending more than half of his time speaking with athletes - many of whom are footballers - to help them make informed decisions on their money.
It is a position he knows all too well, having been there himself.
But how did such a rising World Cup winner at one of the country's most successful clubs at the time fall through the cracks of making the big leagues?
Well the short answer, according to Anderson, is rushing his career decisions.
Speaking to the BBC he said: "I look back and think, at 18, what was I in a rush for? I was in such a desperate rush to do everything. I came off the back of the World Cup and expected everything now.
"I was looking at other young players, what they were doing, and not really valuing the path that I was on. Playing for City and England, my trajectory would have been straight up."
Instead, a young and impatient Anderson headed to the United States to play for Charlotte Independence in 2018, but that move ended in disaster as the manager who had bought him there was sacked within three months and put him out of favour.
Anderson spent two years on the books at Wycombe from 2020, with two loan spells in those years, before falling into non-league and ultimately retiring in 2023.
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It was five years of hell for the Barrow-born goalkeeper, who confessed: "The spark of football just wasn't really there.
"I didn't have the same drive and love for it that I had five years earlier, I was happy to do my day job. The decision to fully stop playing came quite easily."
Anderson says he is "proud" to see his former team-mates doing well, but insists he is not envious or regretful over what could have been, declaring: " If you offered to put me in their situations now, playing week-in week-out in the Premier League, I wouldn't trade that for what I'm doing now."
When he was aged 11 and starring for Blackpool, Anderson was scouted by both Manchester giants.
Anderson says he has no regrets about choosing to play for City, or the move which took him from a small town to the big city, insisting being in that "high performance environment" every day helped to shape his current livelihood.
But he also recalls the "daunting" experience of the Covid-19 pandemic when he had no idea what to do with the money he had earned while on the books at Man City.
Despite passing accountancy and finance exams, he eventually concluded football was not for him, and instead opted to shadow a financial adviser near his parents' house.
And upon reflection, Anderson is happy with the roll of the dice he has cast, feeling he can help a lot of budding professionals in a field he laments over how little education is available.
He said: "At Wycombe, I'd get questions from older players. I realised there is a lack of education and support about finance in football.
"There's not enough education, guidance and support for young people with high earnings.
"If you're a lower-league player, your immediate priority should be to plan for life after football. If you've got that sorted, you can set yourself and your family up for years.
"I look at what I know now and feel like I need to help as many people in football as I can."
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