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Liam Ridgewell knows all too well how most football fans will perceive his time spent in Major League Soccer.

“Everyone sees it as a retirement ground, with people going over there to see out the latter stages of their career,” said Hull City’s newest recruit. “But it certainly wasn’t that.”

Ridgewell spent five seasons in the US, initially joining Portland Timbers at the age of 29 in 2014. Twice he reached the MLS Cup final, winning it once as an All-Star in 2015, on his way to amassing 97 appearances.

The call of home was eventually answered this month but Ridgewell is determined to prove that his spell across the Atlantic has done nothing to dim his powers.

(Image: Focus)

“I wanted to try something different and go out there with an open mind,” said City’s new centre-back, who last year was joined in MLS by the likes of Wayne Rooney and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

“I’m looking to prove that perception wrong. The league is completely different to what a lot of people expect. It’s grown bigger and stronger. I feel as fresh and as fit as when I first went there.

“Every week I was coming up against a world class centre forward. You still had to keep your wits about you.

“I played against players I may not have come against before. It’s not what people expect at all.”

Ridgewell points to his final game in the green of Portland as a case in point. In losing to Atlanta United in the MLS Cup final, he was challenged to shackle Miguel Almiron, who last week joined Newcastle United for a club-record fee of £20m.

“That really answers a lot of people’s questions,” added Ridgewell. “That would never have happened five years ago but it’s slowly become bigger and better. They’re producing young stars now, not just the players they brought in to raise the profile of the league.”

Ridgewell did not initially expect to stay so long in the States once he left West Brom behind five years ago but it was always his intention to return home to where it began. Now all that remains is for him to sharpen up fitness levels to convince Nigel Adkins he is worth a place in City’s defence.

“When I first went I signed for two and a half years,” he said. “I left in the July when the Premier League season finished. Did I envisage staying for five years? No, probably not.

“Initially I just wanted to go over there and embrace it as much as possible and take to it.

“I loved it, it was great, really refreshing for me. It gave me another lease of life. It was something I needed to do and I really loved it.

(Image: Hull City)

“Five years flew by and I loved every year I was there but I did miss English football. It’s something I grew up in and it’s something to look forward to every weekend now.”

Ridgewell, it seems, is not alone. A City debut might come up against another MLS veteran in Ashley Cole, who left LA Galaxy to join his former Chelsea and England team-mate Frank Lampard at Derby County last month.

“He’s still going and probably looking to prove people wrong,” said Ridgewell. “I played against him a few times and always tried to catch up and see how it was going.

“He did tremendously well there at LA and got named club captain. It’s good to see him back here too.”

Familiar faces have already come in Hull, too, after meeting up with this city’s most famous football son this week.

Nick Barmby invited Ridgewell around for dinner on Thursday after the Tigers’ new centre-back had forged a close relationship with the former England international’s son, Jack, during their time together at Portland Timbers.

Barmby junior has since moved on to San Antonio FC but set up an East Yorkshire welcome for Ridgewell.

“I know Jack very well,” he said. “We became really close mates out there and I’m seeing Nick for dinner after getting invited round.

(Image: Getty)

“I know the family well and spoke to Jack a lot. His old man was here before and it’s funny how things turn around. I’ve known Jack for a lot of years and suddenly it’s me who turns up in Hull.”

Has the hospitality extended to the Barmbys’ spare room? “I wish! I wouldn’t have to pay for hotels and digs then!”

That Ridgewell played against Barmby snr during his time with Birmingham underlines the experience that City have recruited to their defensive line.

The centre-back, who turns 35 this summer, has arrived armed with the knowledge that comes from a decade in the top-flight. Pressures should also not faze Ridgewell after winning promotion out of the Championship with the Blues in 2009 and then lifting the League Cup two years later.

City have their own grand plans for this season under Adkins and Ridgewell has already noted the hallmarks of a successful team.

(Image: PA Wire)

“The one thing I’ve noticed here is how much of a team and group it is,” said the defender, who has signed a short-term deal until the end of the season.

“They’re all striving to make the play-offs and striving to go one step further towards the promised land.

“They’re all pushing in the same direction. I’ve been in teams before when that doesn’t happen and I’ve been in teams when it does. Birmingham was a case in point when we won the Carling Cup. That was a team of players who wanted to work hard for each other and achieve big things.

“This team is like that. They’re all working hard and working as a team. I saw it from the first day. They accepted me into the group straight away.”