Jordan Zemura knows it’ll be second time lucky switching from a job using his feet to a career with his hands when he hangs up his boots.The Udinese star, once without a club and fired as a glass fitter, is now an accomplished writer with the world at his feet in Serie A.Former Bournemouth star Zemura continues to impress in Serie AGettyThe former Bournemouth defender keeps a journal on his iPad where he jots down his thoughts and emotions before games.Zemura admitted during an exclusive interview with talkSPORT.com during Udinese’s international media days event that he has considered releasing his work ‘maybe under an alias’.“I’d love to, not influence the next generation, but tell them honestly, the power of the tongue is so important to what you end up doing.”“What you see is what you do. What you speak is what happens. So for me, all of that is just so important.”Understandably so for Zemura, who at only 26-years-old, has already manifested a career that could be the brainchild of the finest writers.The London-born Zimbabwe international spent time in the QPR academy before receiving, in his words, a ‘reality check’ move to Kent.“I was like, ‘Where is the football?'” he added. “I ended up going to Soccer Elite, which is just like an academy, but not a Sunday league.”Under Lee Spiller and Tony Browne’s tutelage, Zemura was part of a seven-a-side team that played at Chelsea’s Cobham training ground.“I was just running around, like a headless chicken, trying to do everything I could to be seen, and I’ve done well,” he told talkSPORT.“And then I got a call back from Lee saying, ‘Ah, listen, they want you to come in on trial.’ And I was like, ‘No way.’ It’s Chelsea, it’s a big deal!”Zemura – pictured alongside Harry Wilson – had trials at Chelsea before joining BournemouthGettyZemura spent the next six weeks on trial at Chelsea as a striker, in the year above Callum Hudson-Odoi – the highlight of which were the two goals he scored against Ipswich Town.His main competition was future two-cap England U20 forward Martell Taylor-Crossdale, who now plies his trade in the seventh tier.He continued: “I did six weeks, done all right. And then they said, ‘Okay, listen, we want you to do another six weeks.’ I was thinking, maybe this is a good thing, maybe I’ll get close to getting signed.”However, the drawback for Zemura was the near two-hour commute from his home on Kent’s Isle of Sheppey to Cobham in west Surrey.“They said to me, ‘You’re obviously as good as the players we have, not better than the players that we have, but obviously you’re good enough.’ But also, there’s this big factor as well, that you live a big, big distance away. “I think for them, they’ll be thinking financially, you’re not better than the players we have to make that investment now, whatever it is, I think maybe they chose the opposite decision.”Zemura would link up with former Cobham graduate Dom Solanke on the south coastGetty“It wasn’t really much, but it was a great experience,” Zemura added to talkSPORT. “Just being there for those eight weeks, that was probably the most competitive I felt in that environment, and we’re like 12 at the age.“We’re so far away from men’s football. But honestly, at that age group, you’re going into training in that environment and watching the under-18’s, Nathaniel Chalobah, Lewis Baker, and then you’re just watching them on that little pitch, and you’re thinking, ‘Phew.’“Each age group, like, it was just to sign another contract to get into under-13s, to get into under-14s.“So like every year became like survival.”Zemura worked as a glass fitter before making it in the professional gameGettyNo year did that feel more apparent than in 2019, when his future in football looked uncertain after he was released by Charlton Athletic.While trying to find a new club, Zemura had a brief stint working with a family friend who fitted glass and window frames.“What a crazy time. I was at Charlton for like nine, 10 years. And it didn’t work out how it worked out.“So then just when I needed some sort of money a little bit, because, at the time, I think I already made it, and then I realised, ‘Oh, wait a minute, my mum’s helping me out.’Zemura’s mum finally got a response back on LinkedIn with her son now a Serie A star“She’s always been my biggest fan, and she was on LinkedIn, literally asking clubs, ‘Listen, can you take my son to a trial to see’ – no one ever got back to her.“Until she told me the other day that I think someone she actually reached out to got back to her. And they were saying, ‘Oh, wow, sorry, I never had the chance to message you at the time. But I was so glad to see Jordan end up being everything that he’s been.’“So I was thinking what a full circle moment that was, after all those years, someone actually reached back out to her. “She literally messaged about a handful of clubs, like saying, ‘Oh, my son, he’s played here, done that, he’s really good.'”Thankfully, Bournemouth agreed with that assessment later that year, with Zemura ultimately making his Cherries debut in 2020.Zemura made 19 Premier League appearances after helping Bournemouth get promotedGettyHis final appearance in England’s top-flight came against ArsenalGettyThe club’s academy graduate proved instrumental in Scott Parker’s promotion-winning season with a runners-up Championship finish.At 22, Zemura made his Premier League debut and went on to make 19 top-flight appearances in 2022/23, registering one assist.However, a contract dispute meant he was made to train with the under-21s and didn’t feature after a 3-2 defeat to Arsenal in March.Udinese offered him a chance to write about a new adventure that summer alongside his ‘dad’s favourite player’, Alexis Sanchez.The former Arsenal and Manchester United star remains a hero in Udine following his first stint at the club, which saw him earn a move to Barcelona in 2011.Sanchez returned to I Bianconeri for a single campaign in 2024–2025, meaning Zemura didn’t need LinkedIn to connect with the Chilean.Zemura shared his dad’s admiration for ex-Arsenal and Man United star Sanchez“100 per cent [got his dad a Sanchez shirt],” he revealed. “Video was sent to my dad about it. He was like, ‘Yeah, he’s a good friend,’ proper milked it,” Zemura joked. “But yeah, great, great player.“When he came, it was one of those ones where he’s like 37, but I was like, you’re the best player here.“Obviously, on the pitch, the dynamics are a bit different, the game is much more intense, so it’s quite difficult. “But he was genuinely unbelievable, how he could shoot. His understanding of football, which is a level above that, is great.”Sanchez left Udinese months before I Bianconeri secured a historic win over another of his old clubs, Inter Milan, at San Siro.Zemura’s family were at San Siro to watch Udinese beat Inter in AugustAFPThe defender has one assist in 15 Serie A appearances this seasonGettyYet, as they always are for the biggest moments on the pitch, Zemura was supported by his parents, brother and sister-in-law.Off the pitch, the family helped found and run the Jordan Zemura Foundation, a UK-registered charity with an area of operation in Zimbabwe, to hopefully empower the next generation to reach the top.He told talkSPORT: “I feel like the biggest thing for me is to use what you have and do everything you can to give back to people.“I think with the foundation, it’s helped me really understand that this is the dream. Like, I am living the dream.His foundation has bases in England, where he was born, and Zimbabwe, which he represents at international levelAFP“It feels good when you have people like this, and you give back so much, you feel like their support is with you. “So when I do get to the stadium, I feel like I know I’m playing for myself, my name on the back of my team, but I’m playing for the kid that I’m inspiring in Zimbabwe, the kid I’m inspiring in Isle of Sheppey. “You never know who you’re inspiring, and I think it’s been one of the biggest benefits of being a professional footballer.”