THE GIANT Bosnian international has gone a long way to justifying manager Tony Pulis' claim that he had signed one of the best young goalkeepers in the country back in January last year with his emergence at the Britannia Stadium.

The £3.25 million signing from Portsmouth took over from the vastly-experienced Thomas Sorensen as first choice in City's Premier League side in the early stages of the 2010-11 season and he has gone from strength to strength since then.

It's perhaps not surprising then that Pulis faced competition from Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea when he made his move for the 'keeper in the January transfer window, but a move from Pompey was eventually sealed before the deadline.

Standing at 6ft 6in, he began his career in Bosnia as a youngster with FC Kirchhausen. However, after impressing on trial with Portsmouth, he was offered terms to join the Pompey Academy where he worked with City First Team Coach Mark O'Connor.

After impressing former boss Harry Redknapp, he was then offered his first professional contract two years after his arrival at Fratton Park, but he was soon loaned out to lower league French side La Louviere to gain regular first team football.

A year later he moved out on a similar loan to Macclesfield Town before following that up with temporary moves to both Bournemouth and Yeovil Town.

It was with the Glovers where Begovic really started to gain a good reputation as he played a pivotal role in helping them moving away from the League One relegation zone.

He then went on to make his long-awaited Pompey debut where he was influential in their vital 3-1 Barclays Premier League victory against Sunderland.

Despite a hugely impressive pre-season campaign, Begovic was then allowed to spend the first part of the 2009-10 campaign out on loan with Ipswich Town, before an injury to England international David James meant he was recalled back to Fratton Park, much to the disappointment of Tractor Boys boss at that time Roy Keane.

Ten successive games for Avram Grant's side followed before James returned to the starting line-up in a 2-0 defeat against Manchester City as speculation mounted regarding the future of one of Portsmouth's most sellable assets in January 2010.

Having represented Canada at Under 21 level on 11 occasions, he arrived in the Potteries following that £3.25 million transfer as a fully- fledged international, having pledged his allegiance to the country of his birth Bosnia-Herzogovina.

Following that decision, he was soon handed his debut for the country in September 2009, where he helped them to a 2-0 World Cup qualifying victory against Estonia, and he has since gone on to win many more caps at full international level.

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