A former England youth international swapped the Premier League for a university lecture hall.Han Willhoft-King decided to study a law degree at Oxford’s Brasenose College after leaving Manchester City.Willhoft-King is studying law at Oxford after spells at Tottenham and Manchester City, training with the City first team under GuardiolaGettyThe now-20-year-old had trained with Pep Guardiola‘s first team during his time with the club, who have just been found guilty of all charges for breaching the Premier League’s financial rules.His former side, City, have announced they have officially appealed the sanctions amid calls for them to be relegated for their breaches that occurred between 2009 and 2018, before Willhoft-King joined.Willhoft-King signed for Man City’s Under-21 side in September 2024 – two months after departing Tottenham Hotspur.He had been with the north London club since the age of six after being spotted playing grassroots football for TFA.Arsenal starlets Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly were amongst his teammates at the local youth side.Once at Spurs, Willhoft-King progressed through the academy before being coached by top-flight winner Yaya Toure, who recently became the first African manager to coach in the Champions League with Slovan Bratislava.Willhoft-King also spent time in first-team training sessions during Antonio Conte‘s tenure.Meanwhile, the midfielder was capped twice by England at under-16 level back in 2021.However, injuries regularly disrupted the teenager’s development at both Spurs and Man City.They included a four-month lay-off last term shortly after moving to the Etihad Stadium.The former England youth international joined Spurs aged six and trained with the club’s first-teamShutterstockWhy did Willhoft-King leave football for Oxford?Willhoft-King admits that the injuries were not the only reason why he chose his studies over a potential professional football career.He told The Guardian: “I wasn’t enjoying it. I don’t know what it was, maybe the environment. I’m bored often, as well.“You’d train, you’d come home and you wouldn’t really do anything. If you contrast it to now, I’m struggling to find hours in the day.“I’m either studying, going out with friends, playing for the university first team, also my college.“I always felt under-stimulated in football. Don’t get me wrong. I still loved it. But I always felt I could be doing more. I was wasting hours of the day.“I needed something different and Oxford excited me; the people, too. I guess that’s the reason.Willhoft-King admits he ‘wasn’t enjoying it’ after ending his Premier League careerShutterstock“Injuries were a big factor, but that’s the easy answer. I felt I needed something a bit more, mainly intellectually, which sounds quite pretentious.“Say I had a career in League One or the Championship, you make good money. But how much would I enjoy it? In my head I wasn’t sure.“Also, best-case scenario, you’ll play for 10, 15 years and after that, what? I thought going to university would provide a platform for me to do something at least for longer than the next 10 to 15 years. So, it’s a bit of a long-term thing, as well.”Willhoft-King made the decision to apply for universities at the start of the 2024/25 season, with Oxford amongst them.He was then offered a place at the school in January 2025 following an interview, with his place ultimately secured after completing his A-levels last year.And Willhoft-King impressively achieved grades of A*, A*, A in maths, economics and history.