The former Sheffield Wednesday striker moved to Sheffield United from Ipswich Town last summer.
David McGoldrick has credited a lifelong Sheffield Wednesday supporter with pushing him into the path of Sheffield United.
McGoldrick – who once had a loan spell at Wednesday – joined United after his Ipswich Town contract expired last summer.
The striker had spent five-and-a-half years on the Tractor Boys’ books and claims that while he was happy to remain at Portman Road, Paul Hurst arrived and told him otherwise.
“I was open to staying there (at Ipswich) but the new manager (Hurst) came in and said no,” McGoldrick explained via the Irish Sun. “That was in June, so I started to look around.
“I got seven goals last year and you can’t go knocking down the doors of clubs saying, ‘Sign me, Sign me!’
“There were teams saying, ‘Yeah, we like him’, but nothing was happening. I was training on my own, thinking, ‘Is this where I am at?’
“There are players I played with that aren’t playing now and they had successful Championship and Premier League careers. It’s hard out there at the minute.
“No one really wanted to give me a chance, so I worked on my fitness and improved myself. I got the buzz back just from being . . . not wanted!
“It was a kick up the arse, this was where I was at. I wasn’t a golden player at a team like Ipswich anymore. I had to go and prove myself.”
McGoldrick spent part of the summer training with the Under-23s at Nottingham Forest, another of his former clubs, before being offered a trial at Sheffield United.
“Every day you are waiting for the agent to tell you something,” he added. “As soon as he told me about Sheffield United, I was straight up the M1.
“I’ve got kids and a family, I’ve got bills to pay. I wanted to secure a contract for them. I’ve done that, but I want to keep going.”
McGoldrick – who the Irish Sun claims was recommended to United by another Yorkshireman, his former Ipswich manager, Mick McCarthy – has since scored 12 goals from 28 starts to help the Blades into an automatic promotion place, and signed a new two-and-a-half-year contract earlier in the campaign.
Hurst, meanwhile, was sacked by Ipswich after less than five months and remains without a job.
The 44-year-old was raised as a Sheffield Wednesday supporter in his native Steel City, but spent his entire playing career on the books of Rotherham United.
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