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Everton fans might not know all too much about the background of new signing Yerry Mina.

The defender was brought in from Barcelona over the summer as Marco Silva and Marcel Brands were tasked with improving the squad, but hasn't yet made his debut for the Blues due to injury.

The 23-year-old was first brought to the majority European eyes with his move to the Catalan giants in January after a successful period with Palmeiras in Brazil.

That means his humble beginnings might have somewhat gone under the radar - including a surprising early positional change.

Initially, Mina started his football career with the aim of becoming a goalkeeper, which is not beyond the realms of belief given his 6 ft 5 in. frame these days.

And there was reason behind it too - both his father and his uncle played in that position professionally, and he wanted to follow in their footsteps.

However, that was short-lived, and whilst both advised Mina to abandon his hopes of being a shot-stopper - the now-Colombian international knows they were big parts of keeping his motivation up.

He told Tifo Football : “When I started playing football I played as a goalkeeper, but my father insisted that I played another position.

(Image: Ricardo Nogueira/Getty Images)

“Both my father and my uncle always advised me, making sure I remained focused, that I didn't stop thinking about the match and that I stayed motivated.”

Growing up in the small town of Guachené was a humble beginning for Mina, and the same Tifo Football report reveals just how far those lengths went.

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The defender reportedly clung to the back of moving vehicles to hitch a ride to training when he was only picking up pennies for being on trial at Deportivo Cali.

The report also claims the defender once cried himself to sleep because he wasn't earning enough money to support his mother and, when he did pick up his first significant paycheck during his time with Deportivo Pasto, he gave her two thirds of it.

The commitment to succeed was clearly present in Mina from an early age.

“Training was at 4 in the afternoon and he would go at 1,” his mother, Marianela Gonzalez, told Caracol Radio (via Reuters ).

“He would say: ‘No mom, I want to be first always.’"

In fact, the youngster was so committed to making himself a star that he even suggested to his first coach, Seifar Aponza, that he wanted to train on Christmas Day.

“That made me think Yerry would be great,” he said (via Reuters ).

And Aponza also says that some of the shy boy he knew all those years ago still shines through on occasions.

He added: “When you scolded Yerry the first thing he would do was cry, and I think he still has that - when he makes a mistake, he closes in on himself.”

(Image: Everton FC/Everton FC via Getty Images)

Since then the defender has gone from strength to strength - and that commitment in those early days has clearly played a big factor.

He became only the third non-Brazilian since 2011 to be named in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A team of the season when he was handed the honour in 2016 after helping Palmeiras win the title.

That caught the eye of Barcelona, and now following a successful World Cup the defender finds himself at a Premier League side in Everton.

It's a long way from his humble beginnings.