The big Brummie, the latest of Manchester City's stellar summer signings, almost died as a five-year-old when he was hit by a car outside his primary school.
His horrified mum, sitting in the family car across the road, could only watch in horror as her son was dragged along by the car.
The youngster had severe head injuries and lay in hospital for months, having a series of operations, as his parents prayed and watched.
Lescott carries the scars today, noticeably on his forehead, and his hair still does not grow on parts of his head.
Such timely reminders of his own mortality have served Lescott well in a career which began at Wolverhampton Wanderers and is now about to begin a new phase as part of the Blue revolution.
"I wouldn't have made it without my mum and dad," Lescott once said. "They were with me every day at my bedside.
"I have got the scarring - it's part of my life and I've just got to get on with it now."
Getting on with it is exactly what Lescott has done since. An outstanding junior footballer, he was picked up by the Wolves youth set-up as a 14-year-old, and made his first-team debut in old gold at 17.
And he said that, although the near-death experience had given him some inner drive, it was his elder brother Aaron - the former Stockport County player now plying his trade at Bristol Rovers - who spurred him on.
"The accident made me more determined to make the most of what I have but my brother has probably been the greater inspiration," he said.
"To see him playing made me want to turn professional more than being run over ever did.
"Everyone looks up to their big brother and with him doing something I loved, I wanted to follow him.
Wolves star
"I took a year out from football when I was 13 because I was finding the training and the professionalism difficult - I wanted to relax and go out with my friends a bit more - but that helped.
"It made me realise what I could easily miss out on."
He soon became a Wolves regular, winning the supporters' Young Player of the Year award at the end of his first season - and winning it again the following year.
But Lescott had ambition. He wanted to play in the Premier League and turn out for his country - and a big season with Wolves in 2002-03 seemed to have set him on his way.
Victory over Sheffield United in the Championship play-off final propelled Wolves into the top flight.
It was heart-breaking for Lescott. A ruptured knee cruciate ligament required reconstructive surgery, and he missed the entire 2003-04 season, as Wolves struggled in the rarefied atmosphere of the Premier League. By the time he was fit to play again, Wolves were back in the Championship, relegated at the first attempt, and Lescott was back at square one.
Lescott kept up his standards - he was Wolves' Player of the Year in 2006, and Everton boss David Moyes was starting to take a keen interest in the 6ft 2ins, left-footed defender, who could fill in at left-back and also had a penchant for scoring important goals.
"He is the best centre-half in the Championship," enthused Moyes.
In the summer of 2006, Lescott moved to Goodison Park for an initial fee of £2m, to be followed by £2m in instalments and £1m based on appearances.
The deal is also believed to have included a 20 per cent sell-on clause, something which complicated the negotiations between City and Everton.
Everton impression
He soon established himself as a fierce competitor and a popular and respected member of the Everton dressing room.
At the end of his first season, his fellow players voted him as the club's Player of the Year, and he was a close second to Mikel Arteta in the fans' poll.
The following season, 2007-08, Lescott scored ten goals, his best return, and this time scooped both Player of the Year awards.
That season also saw him called into the full England set-up for the first time, being included in Steve McClaren's squad for the Euro 2008 qualifiers against Israel and Russia.
He picked up the first of his seven England caps as a half-time substitute for Rio Ferdinand against Estonia in October 2007.
But it wasn't always champagne and roses for Lescott at Goodison.
He found himself at left-back as Moyes tried to squeeze four centre-backs into two berths.
Blues move
And, while he expressed his willingness to do a job for the team at full-back, Lescott made it plain that he sees his future in a central position.
"I'm not saying I'm as good as anybody else but I'm closer to being the best centre-half than I am to being the best left-back," he said at the time.
"If I want to be an England player my best opportunity is to play centre-half.
"At the end of my career, if I don't do that, I'll have no regrets."
Lescott has matured into one of the Premier League's best defenders, and he has been on Hughes' hit-list for some time.
It has been reported that City turned to Lescott when the bold bid for John Terry failed to come off, but the truth is that they were pursuing him regardless of the England skipper's decision.
The saga over Lescott has become the longest-running and most accrimonious transfer story of the summer, but it came to a conclusion at the weekend when the clubs agreed a fee of £22m, with another potential £2m of add-ons.
That fee makes Lescott the world's third most expensive defender after United's Rio Ferdinand and Barcelona's Dani Alves, and takes City's summer spending to the £112m mark.
What do you think? Have your say. Tweet
Comments
Login or Register to comment
how long is it gonna take for hi m to finally sign come on city get him snapped up
Wellcome Joleon, im sure you will play with the ambition it will take to take you to the world cup, once again wellcome to the Sky Blue familly that IS MCFC & may the Blue Moon rise with you !!! CFL
Given
Micah Touré Lescott Bridge
SWP Barry Ireland
Tevez Robinho
Adebayor
That´s a good staring eleven! For away games De Jong might play instead of SWP. I Hope though that Hughes aren´t afraid to rest these players and let Petrov, Kompany etc play.
when will the transfer be announced oficially- nothing on mcfc homepage yet?
Welcome aboard, fills our biggest problem area whilst adding some much needed height......his goals won`t go astray either.
If Lescott can bring an aerial presence both in our own box,and at set pieces, we will become a stronger unit at both ends of the pitch,as well as bringing balance to the centr-back positions with a natural left footed/right footed combination. Potentially Lescott/Toure could be one of the best in the league. what we have to do is give them time to adjust to each others game and work in tandem,and for the back 4 to work together. having Lescott alongside Bridge will give us better protection down that side than having a right footed player in that position.
Sick of hearing how this has been the longest running / most accrimonious transfer .... that's all because of one David Moyes. City and Joleon Lescott have been made to look terrible in this process and we have done nothing different to anyone else .... I see finally some quarters are starting to question Mr Moyes sad behaviour in this process now. If he'd taken his head out the sand earlier and not tried to turn the world against us then this deal would've been done weeks ago !
I think he is overpriced, but what does that matter to us - apart from handing Everton and Wolves some spending power of their own
Where he adds value is;
character, balance, another step up in overall quality and he provides us with more danger at set pieces in the opposition penalty area
some of these assets you cannot put a price on
welcome Joleon - onwards and upwards for you and City
I wonder what Retard Blue of Dukinfield would make of it if Lescott headed the winner in the last minute of the FA cup final against United?
He'd probably argue that if Jose was our manager we would have won the cup as far back as the 4th round thus saving us 4 games!
Great news. That surely is the final piece in the jigsaw now. Bridge - Lescott - Touré - Micah/Zab is a pretty solid-looking defence, plus plenty of cover in the form of Sylvinho, Ned, Komps, Dunney, Garrido (the latter if he stays of course). That's what you call strength in depth, and that's what wins you things folks!
clause, denmark
25/08/2009 at 11:09
Today they hope and so do I! There was a slight delay last night but nothing to worry about.
Here we are all saying wellcome to joleon, what the hell is going on city why is it NOT done & dusted ? CFL.
scoring 10 goals in a season, must admit that is incredible for a defender, when defenders chip in with goals thats when they become more value for money and with city not having all that good statistics from set plays lescott should be a welcomed adition, playing beautiful football wont always bring us goals, we need a second option, the likes of lescott, rsq are this option! great signing dispite the over inflated price tag!
What on earth is the last minute hitch MEN?
I'm pretty sure it's not due to a childhood car accident.
How about a bit of substance to the report!
Brisbane Blue
Nice one! And what will Freaky Vega of Nottingham make of it? He'll most likely tell us he had a tenner on it (kinda like he always does, cleverly revealing his match predictions once the game has finished - lol) and whinge about our strikers not getting the winner or something.
Whingers, whiners, carpers, pessimists, glum bums. The City express is rolling. And your time is up!!!
everton have signed some player for 9m,so they must have sold us lescott if not they will have to give him back
Does anybody have any idea why this tranfer is not completed yet ? CFL.
Got a funny feeling that we're going to pull out of this transfer due to the concerns over Lescott's knee... This is taking far too long, something serious is holding up this signing and I'm now starting to get a very bad feeling!!
It's nearly 3.00 - no formal confirmation that he has signed. What is the problem??
This is very strange - a last minute "hitch" on Monday night, but nothing to do with personal terms or the medical! No signature yet. Can anyone throw any light at all on what is holding things up? Are any other players likely to climb in while the window's still open?
28Rosler, im begining to think the same way, there has to be something seriously wrong this transfer should have been done & dusted by now, its about time the club made a statement to as what is going on, come on city let the fans know what is happening !!! CFL.
Assuming Lescott finally signs, then I think Hughes might surprise a few people and go for a first choice back 4 of Toure,Dunne,Lescott and Bridge.
Eventually I think Kompany will replace Dunne as both captain and CB.
My back 4 would be Ned-Toure-Lescott-Sylvinho.
concerns over lescott's knee .... he's missed 3 games in 3 years ??? Dont panic Mr Mainwaring ... it'll be something to do with payment structures to Wolves or agents fees or something ... I know it's hard for us blues to simply forget the past but we really do have to start acting like a big club instead of listening to all these panic mongerers and conspiracy theorists ... behave yourselves and grow up.
Brisbane Blue,
25/08/2009 at 11:50
"I wonder what Retard Blue of Dukinfield would make of it if Lescott headed the winner in the last minute of the FA cup final against United?"
Can't agree I'm afraid (well, re the FA cup Final, anyway!), I'd much prefer it if the rags were knocked out in the 3rd round against a team like Sheff Utd, with Ched scoring a hat trick in a 5-0 win. The less I see of the reds, the better!!