He's experienced life once as a Premiership footballer and Jean-Francois Christophe is determined to do so again. A star now with Southend United, the charismatic Frenchman is confident he can again prove to managers higher up the Football League pyramid why Harry Redknapp took a chance on him two years ago at Portsmouth.
Still only 22, Christophe admits he now thinks to himself maybe he was a little hasty in seeking a move away from Pompey in search of regular first team football.
"Harry Redknapp gave me a two year contract after a couple of weeks training and I enjoyed my time at Portsmouth," Christophe recalled to tribalfootball.com.
"However, when I was at the club there were a lot of top players there, so it was difficult for a youngster to break through.
"Though now it's a little different! It's crazy when you look at the players that have been sold! Who knows if I had been there now, maybe I would have been given more of a chance."
Despite the regret, that doesn't stretch to his time at Southend, where the French midfielder admits he is happily settled.
"I was on loan there (at Southend) first and after my second month the opportunity arose for me to sign permanently," says Christophe.
"To be honest, I had heard of interest from other clubs. But I was settled at Southend and saw no reason to upset the balance."
In League One, Christophe forms an exciting midfield partnership with fellow Frenchman Francis Laurent - and managed to rope in another French speaker Jean-Yves Mvoto, while he was on-loan from Sunderland earlier this season.
Christophe tells Sunderland fans that Mvoto has a great chance of proving himself a Premiership player.
"He's a nice guy! At first he was a little shy but after a couple of weeks he came out of his shell and me and Francis and me use to hang out with him all the time."
Another to watch out for, says Christophe, is Scott Malone. The young fullback is on-loan at Southend from Wolves and Christophe reckons he's destined for bigger things.
"I don't know him that well but we had a good laugh at the Christmas Party together. As a footballer though I think he's a very good left back and I think he'll go far," says Christophe.
And Christophe remains determined to join the likes of Malone and Mvoto in the Premiership in the near future.
"That's my ambition yes," says the midfielder. "I want to play at the top level and you have to work towards that - which in my case is the Premiership.
"I think it's the best division in the world and I am doing everything I can in order to end up plying my trade there one day."
