TYREEK Magee is regarded as one of the best football talents Jamaica has produced in recent years. Although he hasn’t been able to get opportunities at top clubs overseas, he is still holding onto hope that his chance will come.

The Reggae Boyz midfielder is now in his second-straight season in the Wray & Nephew Jamaica Premier League, after signing with three-time consecutive finalists and 2023 champions Mount Pleasant Football Academy in October.

Magee spent the second half of last season with Vere United, operated by Phoenix Academy owner Craig Butler. However, the Clarendon-based club was relegated after finishing bottom of the table on 24 points.

Magee’s move to Vere last January surprised many, given his return to the national team the previous October and winning the United Soccer League (USL) title with the Colorado Switchbacks a month later.

At the time Butler said Magee would use Vere’s campaign as preparation to move to KRC Genk in Belgium’s top flight.

That move, however, failed to materialise and Magee was without a club for months. But it’s something he has no intention of dwelling on.

“Honestly, I don’t really want to talk about that because it’s going to cause unnecessary controversy,” Magee told the Jamaica Observer.

“I don’t really want that right now. I know I just want to focus on football, just enjoy it, not too much pressure. I know what I can do and I know what I’m going to do. I just want to do that, and then I feel like everything else will go the way it’s supposed to go.”

With his situation up in the air, Magee trained on his own for close to four months. He’s grateful that he was able to navigate the psychological toll which came with that.

“A lot of times I didn’t want to do it — getting up in the early mornings and stuff like that — but that’s something I had to fight with myself because I know what I want at the end of the day,” he said. “No matter how hurt I am or how disappointed I am with stuff that happened before, I knew that I had to get up and get the job done, regardless, and just be ready for what’s to come in the future.”

Fortunately for him, Mount Pleasant cemented their long-standing interest and signed him for their crucial 2024-25 campaign, after missing out on him during the last winter transfer window.

“I was talking to the Sporting Director [Paul Christie] and [Director of Football] Davion Ferguson. Thankfully, we got the deal over the line because it was a really difficult thing to do,” Magee said.

“They were just trying to figure out how I would fit into the team and stuff like that because they have players that can play the position I play, so the conversations were more about that. I think they were really keen that they wanted me to come in, and I wanted to go there as well. Thankfully, that happened.”

After leaving Harbour View in 2019, the former Jamaica College star spent five years overseas with KAS Eupen in Belgium and the Switchbacks in the USA. Now back home for another stint in the JPL, he says those experiences have made him a better player.

“The entire time I was in Belgium, it was a learning process,” he said. “Everything was different. I’m leaving from high school [and] I went there, didn’t know the language, didn’t know anything at all, and the beginning was really tough. I started enjoying football towards the end at Belgium. In the US as well it’s completely different from Belgium and from Jamaica. The game there is a lot of running; it’s more end-to-end action and stuff like that.

“Both helped me a lot to view football like it’s not a one-dimension thing. Everywhere you go you have to learn to adapt, and I appreciate other people’s culture and stuff like that. And, I feel like those little stuff that I experienced previously started to make everything a bit easier for me now.”

While planning to enjoy playing on home soil, Magee isn’t planning to remain comfortable as he believes a big overseas transfer is still on the cards.

“I want to go on and play higher; I feel like I can play anywhere in the world,” he said.

“I’m here now [at Mount Pleasant], so I have to take care of what is in front of me at the moment. We’re going to [potentially] play against MLS teams and teams from other regions [so I] just have to make sure I dominate in games like that and win games for the club. I feel like after that, and obviously the national team, should make everything easy after that.”

Magee’s impact was felt immediately, after his goal in Mount Pleasant’s 2-2 draw with Dominican Republic’s O&M FC at the National Stadium last Tuesday led them to their first-ever Concacaf Caribbean Cup title.

Now with the JPL title and Concacaf Champions Cup in their sights, Magee wants to continue to lead them to glory.

“I want to win every single thing that I compete in,” he said. “That’s my goal and I’m sure that’s the goal of my teammates as well. I feel like it’s just pretty simple — I want to win everything and then see what happens after that.

“Obviously, I haven’t been in Jamaica for a long while; it’s the longest I’ve been in Jamaica since I started playing professionally. Everything’s just really good; well-run organisation down there. Everything’s just for the players and for everyone to grab being in an environment like that with both hands and just make it work.”

Tyreek Magee celebrates with the Concacaf Caribbean Cup trophy. (Photo: Credit – Active Photography)