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Reputations die hard, especially in football.
Rolando Aarons has discovered that sobering reality. It took a Steve Bruce press conference in March, during a loan spell at Sheffield Wednesday, for the Newcastle United winger to realise just how his was hurting him.
“It was funny because Steve Bruce had to come out and tell everyone that what had been said about me was ‘nonsense’,” Aarons says. “I didn’t realise how far this perception had spread.”
Aarons’ agent explained to him that EFL clubs had previously shown an interest but hesitated once they heard what had been said of him. His involvement in a brawl at Livello nightclub in Newcastle in October 2016, for which he was handed a 10-month suspended sentence, painted him as a “bad boy”.
“A lot of clubs were afraid to touch me for a long while, which I still can’t believe,” Aarons continues. “But Steve Bruce wasn’t and he gave me an opportunity. That showed other clubs, ‘This kid isn’t crazy.'”
It feels apt that Aarons, now 24, is so keen to talk about perceptions, given that he has already sprung a surprise before this interview even began.
At Wycombe Wanderers’ modest training ground — essentially a glorified metal shed, with a couple of pitches outside — manager Gareth Ainsworth is doing pull-ups in the gym, while his squad enjoy their lunch upstairs. In a corner of the small canteen, Aarons is washing his own dishes, including a giant Sports Direct mug.
He walks across to offer a handshake, and politely asks, “I have a Spanish class for an hour. Can we do the interview after that, please?”
Language tuition is an unexpected, but very legitimate, reason to postpone. So, as Aarons makes his way into a humble classroom with three team-mates, to be greeted by their Spanish tutor, we arrange to meet up later at Wycombe’s Adams Park stadium.
“I want to learn another language fluently and I love visiting Spain,” Aarons tells The Athletic inside a cramped office at the 10,000-seater ground. “It’s not the first time I’ve taken lessons. I studied Spanish at school, and I learned it with (defender) Kevin Mbabu at Newcastle.
“I put a message into our group chat asking if any of the boys here wanted to get involved. It’s easier to learn together; you can bounce off each other. This is a life skill I want to build, so I’ll stick at it. It’s about testing myself.”
Next comes the revelation that, after a 2016 operation to repair a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament in Rome, Aarons studied Italian. Once he perfects Spanish, he plans to revisit Italian lessons. French is also on his to-do list.
Aarons, it transpires, has always had a passion for languages, though his interest was bolstered during his six-month loan spell at Hellas Verona last year.
“I understood Italian quite well towards the end,” Aarons — wearing a black hoodie, a grey sleeveless jacket and trainers — says of his time at the Stadio Marc’Antonio Bentegodi, between Venice and Milan. “I learned a heck of a lot during my time abroad, both good and bad. I mean ‘bad’ in the sense I probably wasn’t prepared mentally.”
As he readily admits throughout our hour-long interview, Aarons has made mistakes, both on his travels and at Newcastle, but nothing he feels is worthy of this negative image of him that refuses to shift.
“I should have learned the language immediately, got myself an apartment and settled in,” he explains. “When you go back to your hotel, it’s not the same as going home to somewhere you feel is yours. That taught me a lot. It made me realise how much those off-field things affect your football.”
It was Aarons’ desperation to play that took him to Italy. Hamstring, foot and knee injuries had afflicted his Newcastle career, and he made just five appearances during the first half of 2017-18. A phone call from Verona manager Fabio Pecchia, Rafa Benitez’s former assistant at St James’ Park, convinced him to reject an offer from Hull City in the Championship and move abroad.
“Fabio and I were always very close,” Aarons says. “He wasn’t long retired, so he understood our banter and we spoke a lot. He really liked me as a player and gave me confidence.
“I can see why someone else might think Hull was the safe move, but the little kid inside of me was reminded of watching Italian football as a youngster. I just thought, ‘Serie A, AC Milan, Inter Milan.’ I had to do it. It was a no-brainer.
“Playing in Serie A was a gift that I’ll treasure for the rest of my life. I played at the San Siro, twice, something I always dreamed of. It was beautiful.”
However, Aarons failed to rediscover his best form in Italy, playing 11 times without scoring as Verona got relegated. He loved Serie A, but returned to Tyneside with regrets.
“How Fabio is on the touchline — passion and intensity — that’s him,” Aarons adds. “I kind of taught him English, to be honest, because he didn’t speak it fluently. But he treated me like his son. There’d be times when he’d give me the arm-around-the-shoulder treatment, and other times when he’d just swear at me.
“I felt disappointed I didn’t do more playing for him, because his management of me was probably the best I’ve had. I mean that in terms of understanding me and really getting the best out of me. He really believed in me, probably even more than I believed in myself.”
It is obvious that Aarons feels misunderstood. Few other 22-year-olds would take the bold option to sign for Czech side Slovan Liberec, rather than train on Tyneside, especially following a mixed spell in Italy. But, once he was omitted from Benitez’s 25-man Premier League squad during the summer of 2018, that is precisely what Aarons did.
“That summer was quite stressful,” he reflects. “My court case was happening and that put a lot of English clubs off me. I had a choice of sitting there and earning money — I get paid every week regardless, I don’t need to play — but I can’t do that. It isn’t me. No disrespect to the under-23s league, but I’ve grown beyond that. So I asked my agent what leagues were available, and there were only a few options. Liberec were one of them, so I took a chance.”
Newcastle’s goalkeeper Martin Dubravka, who spent a season at Stadion u Nisy, recommended the move, and Aarons learned from his Italian experience. He got himself an apartment, where he set-up his PS4, and attempted to acclimatise, although the Czech Republic proved to be a culture shock.
“Culturally, it is just so different,” Aarons says. “It’s freezing cold, snowing from October, and makes Newcastle feel warm! Then there’s the language barrier. Also, midweek, you’d get delivered two roast chickens into the middle of the changing room. Everyone then picks pieces off these chickens, starts adding pickles and then sits around eating. I’d never experienced anything like that before. But I tried to embrace it all.”
Again, the football did not flourish as Aarons envisaged, with 12 appearances and no goals. However, on this occasion he believes that was more down to the position he was playing, rather than his own shortcomings.
“That move was difficult and I ended up playing up front by myself,” he adds. “I didn’t expect that before I went; I thought I’d play as a winger. It wasn’t ideal. I did learn to use my body differently and how to receive the ball in different areas, but it held me back from doing what comes naturally.”
A decade ago, Aarons never imagined he would be a professional footballer, never mind one who has played in three countries. Having lived with his aunt for six months, Aarons travelled from Jamaica to Bristol by himself as a five-year-old, following his father, Roland, and mother, Joan, who headed to England first.
“I came across by myself,” he recalls. “I had one of the assistants flying with me. I remember getting to the airport and my mum was already there. I actually said to the assistant, ‘She’s not my mum.’ I genuinely didn’t recognise her any more! She looked totally different.”
Inner-city Bristol threw up “influences”, and Aarons accepts he got involved in “things that felt normal at the time, but looking back you should never be around”. Street football “saved him”. Although a trial at Bristol City at age 11 came to nothing, they did sign him two years later.
“Football for me was about fun,” Aarons says. “I dreamed of becoming a Premier League footballer, but never thought it would happen. From my area, nobody ever made it. We didn’t have engineers, musicians or sportspeople. I’m from a poor background and I couldn’t always afford to go to training because my mum didn’t drive. I probably didn’t take football as seriously as I should have, but it was hard to see a future.”
In 2012, Aarons was released, but his agent sourced him trials around the country. He was about to sign a professional deal with Championship club Leeds United, before a Premier League scholarship offer arrived.
“I was very close to signing for Leeds,” he says. “I remember thinking, ‘Newcastle have offered a scholarship, whereas Leeds have offered a professional deal, which gives me security. But I actually want to be a Premier League player.’ I’d dreamed of that since I was a kid, even if I didn’t think it was possible, so I chose Newcastle.”
For the first time, Aarons was living away from his family. “Within four months I was asking my agent to get me out because I didn’t feel I could cope,” he says. “I grew up in a Jamaican household, so even things like the time we eat is different. I’d never eaten dinner at 6pm in my life! I eat at 6pm and I’m hungry by 9pm. The food was different, but so was the environment and the way of living. I felt isolated.
“It was tough. I kept speaking to my mum, who said, ‘You’ve come so far and I’m so proud of you.’ That kept me going. When I stopped sulking within myself and realised that I had changed my own situation completely within 12 months, that’s when my mentality changed.”
By August 2014, Aarons had his professional contract and was playing for Alan Pardew as an 18-year-old. Yet, while the Schalke pre-season tournament that summer proved to be the winger’s breakthrough, he reveals his debut could have come sooner.
“I was meant to make my debut against Liverpool in May 2014,” Aarons explains. “The day before, the manager told me I was playing. I rang my mum. I was calling my friends and saying, ‘You’ll never believe it, I’m making my debut. I’m playing against Gerrard, Sturridge and Suarez.’ I was buzzing.
“But then I wasn’t even on the bench. When I was younger, I used to get so angry at things like that. I remember thinking, ‘He’s lied to me.’ (Then-coach) Steve Stone came up to me and said, ‘Don’t show the manager you’re sulking. You’ll get your chance, just not today.'”
After impressing at the Hong Kong Sevens tournament, Aarons was told to report to first-team training for pre-season. A goal and an assist in Gelsenkirchen followed.
“I went with no fear,” Aarons says. “I wanted to show how good I was. That’s what really caught the manager’s eye; he saw the confidence I had, trying to beat players whenever I could.”
His Premier League debut came as a substitute against Manchester City on August 17, 2014, and his first senior goal – “A header… I don’t even know how to head the ball now!” — a fortnight later against Crystal Palace, both at St James’ Park.
“That was an unbelievable time.” he says, smiling. “It was surreal, but I wasn’t nervous. I felt I deserved that occasion. I thought, ‘You’ve arrived. Go out there and show everyone what you can do.’
“I love playing at St James’ Park. The fans give me energy. When you beat a player for the under-23s, you get the odd clap. At Newcastle, if you beat a man, you have 52,000 cheering you on. You get a buzz from it that you just want to feel again, and again.”
Such moments proved frustratingly rare, with hamstring injuries hampering his progress. Yet, after Benitez stayed following relegation to the Championship in 2016, Aarons committed himself to a five-year contract.
“Rafa was massive in me signing,” Aarons explains. “He kept calling me and saying, ‘Listen, you’re going to play next season. I really want you to stay.’ When Rafa Benitez is calling you as a 20-year-old boy, it gets you dreaming.”
Popular within the dressing room, Aarons has built strong friendships at Newcastle. DeAndre Yedlin “is like a big brother”, while he is still close to Mbabu and Ivan Toney.
“Cheick Tiote was one of the first senior players to speak to me and help me feel comfortable,” Aarons explains. “I remember my first training session, I nutmegged him. It’s the worst thing I’ve ever done! Every time I got the ball from then on, I was on the floor. He stood over me and said, ‘Don’t ever nutmeg me again.’
“He was really important for me. He offered advice and treated me like his little brother. When Cheick died [of a heart attack in June 2017], it was a big shock. I will always be grateful for what he did for me.”
It was the likes of Tiote and Yedlin who Aarons leaned on for support during difficult moments. Such as his Championship campaign, which started with foot and ACL injuries.
“It kept playing on my mind. I kept thinking, ‘Why do I always get injured at these times?’ There were times when I was embarrassed to be injured,” he admits. “When you’re labelled ‘injury prone’, you don’t want anyone to find out you have a niggle so I used to hide injuries. I should have played 40-0dd games that year and really established myself. Unfortunately it didn’t happen, and things never really improved.”
Aarons admits to struggling mentally for long periods at Newcastle. Balancing becoming a father at 19 with an injury-affected football career proved challenging.
“It was the best day of my life when he was born,” Aarons says of his son, Lorenzo. “I remember holding him for the first time and being really scared. I sent my friends messages saying, ‘I’m shaking. I really don’t know what to do.’ I am so grateful to have him; he’s changed my perspective.
“Now, I never allow myself to get too frustrated with football because I have other priorities. He’s a blessing. But at the time he was born, I can’t lie, it was tough. I lived alone, I wasn’t with his mother, I had injuries, managers were changing, the court case… There was too much going on for someone of that age.
“I broke down a few times. During my first season, I called my mum and cried down the phone after my hamstring injuries. Then, after my ACL operation, I ran a bath and couldn’t physically get into the tub. I just wept, thinking, ‘I’m the most unlucky footballer in the world.’ I felt helpless. I got into a dark place, mentally. I didn’t know anyone else who’d been through that experience so I was trying to do it all myself.”
As he battled off-field issues, Aarons received assurances from Benitez that he would play in 2017-18. Yet, by the January, he had made just four appearances and pushed for a loan.
“I sat down with my agent and looked back at the stats of how many games I’d played, how many I’d missed,” Aarons continues. “It wasn’t supposed to happen like that, so I had to get away.”
After his spells with Verona and Liberec, Aarons found his way to Hillsborough, where he linked up with now-Newcastle head coach Bruce on another loan last January.
“He helped me massively, taking a chance on me when others wouldn’t,” Aarons explains. “He is the reason I stayed at Newcastle during pre-season. If any other manager had signed, I would have left earlier. My mind had been made up. But when Steve Bruce came in, I thought, ‘We got along well, let me feel it out.’ I told my agent to hold off.”
Not only did Aarons feature in every pre-season game, he also started the final friendly against Saint-Etienne on August 3 as a wing-back – a position he feels “is not my best one, but for Newcastle I’ll play anywhere”. He was convinced he would be in the 25-man Premier League squad, but then Emil Krafth and Allan Saint-Maximin were signed.
“For me to find out two days before the window shut that I wasn’t in the squad, I was properly devastated,” he admits. “Championship clubs had been asking to take me on loan but I’d put those to one side. By the time I found out, those options were gone. It was a really difficult time.
“My problem at Newcastle is that I’ve always been so close. I’m on the bench; I’m next in line. But then, every time it seemed like it was going to happen, I’d pick up a knock. That sets you back.”
European clubs, including Panathinaikos in Greece, showed an interest but Newcastle wanted Aarons to stay in England. As Wycombe manager Ainsworth himself said last month, Aarons is “above League One level” ability-wise, but he needed game-time.
“I didn’t have the time to be picky,” Aarons stresses. “It never entered my mind that I would stay at Newcastle once I was out of the squad. The manager called me and told me everything I wanted to hear.
“This club’s a one-off. There are no egos. You can be who you want, but there is also a level of expectation and professionalism. Every day, the manager says, ‘We are Wycombe. This is how we do things.’ I’m loving it.”
Aarons is enjoying playing for Ainsworth (picture credit: Wycombe Wanderers)
Despite having a yearly budget of just £2 million, amongst the lowest in the division, Wycombe are pace-setting, while Aarons has two goals, though injuries have restricted him to nine appearances so far. His loan deal ends in mid-January, when his Newcastle contract will have just 18 months left to run, but the 24-year-old is focusing solely on the short term.
“I can’t think too far ahead,” he says. “I know that in 18 months I could be out, but that’s not important right now. The only way I can get to where I need to is if I perform well now.”
Aarons admires Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling, with whom he shares Jamaican heritage, and takes inspiration from the forward’s achievement. “He’s a role model,” Aarons says. “We’re both from Jamaica, we’re from similar backgrounds, and we speak from time to time. He’s both an inspiration and a friend. What he’s done is incredible, but I want to be playing against him again.
“I believe I can be a Premier League player because I have played in the Premier League before; whether that’s Newcastle or elsewhere. No one can take those moments away from me. It’s something I’ve done and know I still can do. That’s why I’m not too worried about how my career might look to other people right now. I know what I’m capable of.”
Reputations die hard, but Aarons is determined to fight against his.
