Nestled in a house in nothern California is a fading picture of a toddler with a football lying at his feet. The boy can barely walk, yet a journey which will take him across the Atlantic Ocean to the land of his forefathers has begun.

“As soon as I could walk, I had a football with me,” a smiling Lynden Gooch tells the Guardian in his hybrid American-English accent. “It was always my dream as a kid.”

Almost 20 years later, the Gooch family photo album is growing at quite a rate.

Gooch, born in Santa Cruz, was a shock inclusion in the Sunderland starting line-up for the Premier League opener at Manchester City last month, and has remained in the side for all four games since, demonstrating his credentials in the top tier of English football.

Gooch admits he was stunned when Sunderland manager David Moyes announced his inclusion in the side to face City at the end of a training session 24 hours earlier. “I was looking around, checking to make sure it was right. All the lads said: ‘Yeah, yeah, you’re fine’. I was like: ‘Oh!’”

But Gooch has never doubted his ability to make the grade in English football after a 10-year relationship with Sunderland, which first began during a spring break trip from the now defunct PDA centre of excellence in San Jose.

Coached by his English-born, Tottenham-supporting father Paul, Gooch represented several teams in California, but it was a trip to the north-east of England with PDA which provided his big break after scoring a hat-trick against Sunderland.

The English club were impressed by the 10-year-old, and for the next six years, Gooch would spend every spring or summer break travelling to the UK to train with the Black Cats. His dad’s emails kept the club abreast of his progress with Santa Cruz Breakers and Santa Clara Sporting.

“I knew I was good enough from a young age,” Gooch says. “I was really confident. I had no doubts, without even training at Sunderland or knowing anyone. I think that’s a big part of it. If you have the confidence in your ability, anything can happen.

“The Sunderland academy manager kept in contact with my dad quite a bit and I always knew the next time when I would come over. The club’s been fantastic for me and my family; looking after me and making sure that everything was in the right place to come over and be comfortable. It showed that they were interested in me and it paid off.”

As the youngest of four brothers in a soccer-dominated household, Gooch wasn’t alone in having a round ball at his feet from an early age, although the eldest, Darshan, preferred the sea. “He tried football and it wasn’t his thing, so my dad took him surfing.” He is now a professional surfer.

Another brother, Anthony, played for San Diego State and had a trial at Premier League Everton, but ultimately decided to remain in the US and go to college.

Lynden had no such doubts. He jumped at the chance to pen a formal two-year scholarship aged 16, and despite a brief bout of homesickness, he thrived in the Sunderland youth ranks before agreeing professional terms.

An unexpected first-team debut arrived last season as a substitute in a League Cup win over Exeter. Prior to a whirlwind of emotions over the last month, it was the unquestionable highlight of Gooch’s career. “I love it here, it means a lot to me, and to go out on the pitch was the greatest achievement of my life,” he says.

A loan spell followed at Doncaster Rovers. A foot injury limited him to just 10 appearances for his temporary employers, yet it was an invaluable experience. He was suddenly transported from the cozy arena of youth-team football into an unforgiving world of physical and verbal confrontation.

He says: “You have to get used to it and get used to it really quick. I could handle that, I was strong enough to deal with it. But it is tough for a lot of young players that have to deal with that, because it is completely different football. In Under-21s football, people aren’t smashing you.”

Nevertheless, Gooch still faced a seismic leap to bridge the gap between Doncaster and the Premier League.

However, the change of manager at Sunderland – which saw Moyes succeed now England boss Sam Allardyce – played into Gooch’s hands. Moyes was renowned at former club Everton for giving youth a chance; he gave Wayne Rooney his Premier League debut as a 16-year-old in 2002.

And Moyes has kept faith with Gooch this season, using him either as a wide forward or in central midfield. “A lot of young players in the Premier League find it frustrating because they don’t ever get an opportunity. But we’ve had more under-21s training with the first-team than ever,” he says.

Gooch’s involvement at Sunderland has already caught the eye of Jurgen Klinsmann, who held talks with him last week. “It’s wonderful to see a kid break through at the start of the Premier League season,” Klinsmann told ESPN.

Although he is also eligible to represent England and Ireland, Gooch still sees himself as American, albeit he remains frustrated at his exclusion from the US Under-20 squad for last year’s World Cup.

“I qualify for England and Ireland as well, so there’s always stuff that can happen,” he says. “But I would love to play for the US again. I had a lot of pride putting on that shirt coming from California. I played a lot of football in California and I owe a lot to the country. The door is wide open at the minute.”

It’s a door that Gooch is banging on loudly.