Former Chelsea fullback Partick van Aanholt has lifted the lid of a horror loan spell that almost made him quit football.

The Dutchman was 17 when he joined Chelsea from PSV, and like many youngsters arriving at London Colney, was shipped out on loan to various clubs in the proceeding years.

Van Aanholt spent time at Coventry City, Newcastle United, Leicester City, Wigan and Vitesse.

And it was his final English loan stop at the DW Stadium that almost led to the end of his career.

"One of the worst loans of my life," Van Aanholt said while discussing Wigan.

"It was partly the manager (Belgium boss Roberto Martinez), but a little bit me.

"Obviously when you go on loan from Chelsea you expect to play.

"I was really thinking about quitting football. I was that upset, I wanted to stop.

"I went on holiday with my missus at the time and said, 'What am I going to do now? No club is going to want me because I haven't played for a year'. I was very close.

"At the time my mentality was wrong, I'm not going to lie.

"I thought, 'F*** it, I'm not going to train (properly)'. I didn't want to play in the reserves. It was the wrong attitude.

"I could have trained for myself, so when I got the chance I was ready. I didn't do that. I was just training and going home.

"That was just a waste of time. That's why Wigan is a closed book."