Jordan Ayew was not even a teenager when he first felt the weight of expectation pressing down on his young shoulders. Not the type many of us can really understand, either, growing up as the son of Ghanaian footballing royalty. The type that followed him in whispers as he looked to forge his own path, both in football and in life.

“When you start you always have that,” Ayew admitted. “That’s why he’s in the national team, because he’s the son of this and the nephew of this. But all the time it’s about performances. You always have to prove yourself, every single day. That’s the mindset my family have instilled in me.”

Family is a remarkable subject for the Sheffield United forward. His dad is Abedi Ayew, a Champions League winner in 1993 with Marseille and the winner of the African footballer of the year award three years running. He was nicknamed Pele as a youngster and the name stuck.

Ayew’s uncles Kwame and Sola were also professional footballers, and three of his brothers followed the same path. Two, Ibrahim and André, also played for Ghana. Talk about a legacy.

“Expectations back home were obviously very big,” Ayew continued. “A bit too much, if I’m being honest, but it is what it is. I think so far I've given a good account of myself, and there's more to come, in my opinion.

“My family taught me that there is no such thing as a relaxed day; every day, you need to perform. Sometimes it’s hard mentally, but that’s the way forward and everything is in God's hands.

“So I try to do my best on the pitch and give myself the best opportunity to perform every time, and for club and country. It's the same thing for me.”

Ayew is expected to add to his 124 caps for his country in their upcoming AFCON qualifiers against Somalia over this international break and as the current captain of the Black Stars, is one of the most famous people in his country. Ghanaians are fanatical about their football, and over half of their entire 34 million population class themselves as supporters.

Dealing with that, you can only imagine, takes a certain personality but Ayew, speaking to The Star at Shirecliffe before a training session with the Blades, comes across as a humble and level-headed character. You would not imagine the man sitting there has the hopes of a nation on his shoulders.

“Obviously, it comes with a lot of pressure, a lot of expectations as well,” he admitted. “But we play football to set examples for the next generation, and that's what I try to do best. Even for my kids, for my nephews, my nieces.

“I try to set examples for the young ones in Ghana that if you believe in your dream, it's possible. To be honest, I'm living my dream. I'm 35 and I'm playing in the Championship. For me, it's a big achievement, and obviously I hope I can keep going as much as I can.

“But I'm not clueless. I am very smart to understand that I'm setting the right example for the young ones back home, and for me, that is the most important thing. Obviously, you have ups and downs, but you never have to give up, because in life, things change very, very quickly.”

Ayew scored his first goal for the Blades in Saturday's defeat at Charlton Athletic wearing the No.10 that his dad made famous in his homeland, and that his brother Andre also wore after coming to England with Swansea City.

Rather than a family tradition, though, it turned out to be a happy accident. Ayew came in as effectively a replacement for the departed Callum O’Hare, who left 10 vacant when he went to Wrexham on deadline day.

“There weren’t a lot of other numbers left!” Ayew laughed. “Because we know it's a big squad as well. So I was thinking I’d need to take maybe number 50-something but that was the best solution and option for me. So I took it up.

“Obviously it's a big number for my family. I'm not into numbers and things, but my family are really into this number 10. I’m a bit different. I'm a bit in my own world, let me put it that way.”