JOHN UTAKA is sitting by the side of Portsmouth’s training pitches watching a youth team game and recalling memories of his childhood in Enugu, a coal-mining town in southern Nigeria. “I started playing football in the main road in my bare feet,” he says. “We had two stones for goalposts and played four against four. Sometimes something sharp would cut your feet, but we played through our wounds, didn’t even think about them. We just loved to play.”

The game was their escape. Utaka’s parents, Peter and Rose-line, worked in administrative jobs in local government and the ministry of agriculture respectively, but life was hard. “My parents worked hard, and from an early age I could see that you had to work to get anything,” he explains. Strong and fast, he stood out in games on the dirt roads near the family home, yet could not afford a pair of football boots until he was well into his teens. His first boots, “black and green and brand new”, were a present from a family friend. “I felt an obligation to play well when I put them on,” he says.

He began to play for the University of Nigeria teaching hospital’s football team and was spotted by a scout, Charles Nwosu, who offered him the chance to join Arab Contractors Cairo in the Egyptian capital. For a year Utaka lived in accommodation provided by the club for young players inside the stadium, a small room with a bed and a fridge. He moved to Ismaily, an Egyptian first-division club, then to Al-Sadd in Doha, Qatar. Meanwhile, he had caught the eye of Tunde Adelakun, a magazine publisher who recommended him to the coach of the Nigerian national team, Shaibu Amodu. He was included in the squad for the 2002 World Cup, bringing him to the attention of French side Lens. They signed the striker, who can play on either flank, and after three seasons he moved to Rennes, advancing his reputation with successive hat-tricks against his former club and French champions Lyon. His performances were driven by the environment of his youth.

“It is my background, playing football in my bare feet, seeing how hard life was for people in Enugu, my home city; this is what has pushed me to succeed,” he insists. “Maybe this is the way for a lot of African footballers because you have all the motivation and ambition you need. You don’t want to see your opponent in front of you. This has certainly been the way for me. I have always been determined to reach the top in football and here in the Premier League I believe I can do this.

“One day I want to have my shelf full of trophies, but I get as much satisfaction from knowing that my parents work only part-time now. They don’t have to work because my success in football and the contribution of my teammates have made this possible.”

Utaka has already shown his potential in his first few Premier League games for Portsmouth. A magnificent second goal in the recent 3-1 triumph over Bolton was lauded by Harry Redknapp, the Pompey manager, for the “pace and power” he demonstrated before his precision finish. Portsmouth underlined their ambition with the acquisition last week of Senegal midfielder Papa Bouba Diop from Fulham and defender Glen Johnson from Chelsea.

Utaka, whom Redknapp brought from Rennes on a four-year deal for £7m plus add-ons that could make him the club’s record signing, is expected to be hugely influential in Portsmouth’s performance this season. The presence of Nigerian teammate Kanu is an inspiration for the 25-year-old. Utaka believes the team can build on an encouraging start – a solitary defeat by Chelsea in its opening four Premier League games – to mount a serious challenge for a European place.

“I want to go as far as I can in the game, and everything is possible, this is what I believe,” he says. “We have to work and give everything and we’ll see what we can achieve.”

Before the Bolton game, Utaka got lost on his way to the ground. “I was driving and didn’t know the way. I used the car’s navigation system and thought that I put in Fratton Park, but I ended up somewhere on Fratton Road. I didn’t know the way to go, so I stopped some people wearing Pompey shirts and asked them for directions. They were a little surprised to see me less than an hour before the game still in my car. Looking back, it was funny.”

Now that he has found his way, the man they call “The Torpedo” could take some stopping, even by Arsenal.