Swansea City midfielder Leon Britton has no regrets over his career.

Britton joined West Ham at 16 hoping for a better chance of making a break-through. A tribunal ordered the Hammers to pay Arsenal a whopping £400,000.

He told The Sun: "Arsenal offered me three years but West Ham were interested. They had Rio Ferdinand, Frank Lampard, Joe Cole, Glen Johnson, Michael Carrick and a history of bringing players through.

"An FA panel set the compensation at 400 grand up front which was a record for a 16-year-old at the time."

But Britton did not make the breakthrough at Upton Park and dropped four divisions to Swansea on loan in search of first-team football. That move became permanent the following summer . . . and the rest is history.

Britton said: "I wouldn't change it for the world.

"We've come up through the divisions with Swansea which means more, because I've done it the hard way rather than straight away.

"I'd have loved to have spent the last 10 years in the Premier League but it was a great way to get there.

"And do it with a club you've played a lot of games for and seen grow on and off the pitch."