DESPITE having honed his football skills in a cage, nothing could prepare Jordon Ibe for life in League Two.

“It was scary!” recalls Cherries’ new signing from Liverpool, who made his debut for Wycombe aged 15 years and 311 days, the club’s youngest Football League player.

“Skinheads and whatnot. If there was a tackle coming or the centre-back was coming to head the ball, I’d move out of the way. The manager used to moan but I’d just say sorry and do it again! I saw some mad incidents and didn’t want to get involved.”

Reared in Borough in south London, Ibe learned to look after himself playing in caged all-weather pitches with his mates from a young age: “It was tough.

“Everyone was older than me but I felt that helped. Playing street football certainly helped me. We played 10-a-side and I started when I was about seven. It was much better for me when I was around 14 or 15.

“It was good and there were a lot of skilful players, a lot more skilful than me. I used to play every day with my friends.”

Ibe’s first taste of a professional club came at Charlton before he was picked up by Wycombe following his release by the Addicks after just 12 months: “I went on trial and stayed for a year.

“It is a bit of a blur. I was in primary school, year six, and would go training in Eltham.

“Being released didn’t touch me that much as I was injured at the time. I had Osgood-Schlatter disease when I was 11 and that put me back.”

Ibe speaks fondly of ex-Wycombe head of youth recruitment Michael Carnegie and Alex Inglethorpe, Academy director at Liverpool.

“Michael Carnegie helped me a lot when I was playing in my school team in south London,” says Cherries’ £13million man. “He was a scout at Wycombe and brought me and various other players to the club.

“Quite a lot of players, even now, in the first team at Wycombe are from London. It was like a family.

“I enjoyed it there. It was weird playing on a Saturday and then going to school on a Monday. It was cool. Everyone was cool. No one changed. I didn’t change.

“When I was in the youth team and reserves at Liverpool, Alex Inglethorpe used to show me videos of players like Ronaldo, Ribery and Robben, players who play in my position.

“It was one-touch finishing and getting to the back post. It was a great help for me. He did one-on-one training with me in the off season and after training in the season.

"I did a few sessions with Kenny Dalglish with the under-16s. I enjoyed it and it helped me that season. He gave me advice on what to do in the final third.”

Ibe, who says he would have been a maths teacher had he not been a professional footballer, says similarities between former Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers and Eddie Howe attracted him to Cherries.

He said: “The manager at Liverpool told me Eddie Howe had showed interest and not being in the Europa League and Champions League there would be limited chances for me to play.

“I thought coming here would be the best move for me. The manager here has the same philosophy as Brendan and I like the way they play football.

“I like passing football and there are a lot of young players here so I thought it would be great for me to mix with new talent. Every training session is different. There is a lot of attacking play for the attackers and movement pattern, which I love.

“He will walk through training and stop and start and that’s what I had been doing at Liverpool with Brendan. It gives you confidence. If we are doing something wrong, he stops, shows us what to do and gives us another chance.”