NEW City signing Abo Eisa has admitted his close relationship with older brother Mo is a big reason why he has been able to progress in the Football League.

Winger Eisa signed for City yesterday, after spells with Scunthorpe, Colchester and Shrewsbury, which followed a prolific career in non-league.

His sibling has followed a similar path, and speaking to the T&A, Bantams new boy Eisa said: “Mo has always been an inspiration to me and I’ve always looked up to him.

“We’ve been on the same journey really and we played in the same teams growing up.

“The season before I went pro was Mo’s first season in the Football League with Cheltenham and he did really well.

“I just felt if he could do it, then so could I. We’re very close and he tells me what to do to improve, which is really good.”

Eisa moved to London from Sudan at the age of seven, which is when he began to play football.

The 25-year-old did not spend any time with a Football League academy, instead playing youth football with St Albans, before tearing things up with Uxbridge and Wealdstone between 2015 and 2018.

Asked about what it was like to receive that non-league education, Eisa said: “I guess what’s good about non-league is that you find a lot of players with plenty of ability, which hasn’t really been coached.

“They get to express themselves and they’ve not been made to change their natural style of play.

“Maybe growing up in an academy would have been different, but I’m happy with my journey.”

And that journey has now taken him to City for the next two seasons.

There was plenty of competition for Eisa’s signature, so asked why he chose the Bantams, he said: “It’s the vision they’ve got, and appointing Derek Adams, who’s just won promotion, is a big statement.

“City are a big club and it’s the project which attracted me.

“The boss has come out and said he wants to get promoted and we’d still be a big club in League One, especially with some of the top players we already have.”

Talking about where City fans might see the best of him, Eisa said: “To be fair, I prefer being out on the left wing rather than over on the right.

“I also quite like playing in a two, either just behind or alongside a striker.

“I’m quite comfortable there just running in behind.

“But as long as I’m on the pitch then I’m happy.”

Eisa stood out at a struggling Scunthorpe last season, netting nine times in the league, including once against City, and impressing with his pace and trickery.

Talking about how the 2020/21 campaign went, Eisa said: “It was a difficult season really.

“We started it poorly, had a good run in the middle part of the season, which helped us towards safety, but then it wasn’t great at the end.

“But you can still learn from seasons like that, which is never a bad thing.”

It was Paul Hurst who brought him to Scunthorpe, with the same man handing him his first chance as a professional with Shrewsbury.

Talking about what Hurst had done for his career, a grateful Eisa enthused: “I had Paul as my first manager and I’ve played under him twice, so he’s the one I’ve been with the longest.

“He taught me about applying myself and trying to improve every day, playing every game like it’s my last.

“He instilled that hard work into my game and now I never want to stop trying to improve.

“I think if you stop that, and decide you don’t need or want to improve any more, you won’t go far in your career.”

Eisa is not venturing completely into the unknown by signing for City, and is set to line up alongside a familiar face come the start of the season.

He said: “I played with Lee Novak at Scunthorpe, though obviously he’s just left (City), but I was in the team alongside Levi Sutton there too.

“Levi’s a good lad, who’s another hard worker like myself.

“He’s very passionate about his football and it’ll be nice to see him and play alongside him again.”

Another thing which will be nice to see is the return of fans, some for next month’s friendlies at Valley Parade, and then hopefully capacity crowds from August.

Talking about how much he is looking forward to that, after a season behind closed doors, Eisa said: “It’s been such a long time for us to have played without fans anyway.

“But coming to Bradford City in particular, I know they’ll have a huge attendance, compared to some of the other teams in League Two, so that will be even better.

“First and foremost, I want to excite the fans that come to watch.

“Beyond that, the goal is to produce good individual performances, and for the team to do the same.”