10-year-old Christian Hill who plays as a holding midfielder, was scouted from our Manchester event back in October by Burnley, Accrington Stanley Crewe Alexandra and Barnsley and subsequently went on trial with both.

Talking with Christian’s father Wade, we asked for an insight into his footballing history as to which he told us: “Christian hasn’t played for any professional clubs previously.”

“He’s just played grassroots football and done some work with Carlos Roca’s PFA set up which is a fantastic way to help kids get ready for academy life.”

“He’s played left back, right back, right wing and even up top, but he does like to play what he calls ‘the Kante role’.”

When asked why he chose to bring Christian along to our event, Wade told us: “Christian’s always received great feedback from other managers and has always picked up awards with his club and the PFA.”

“From our point of view as parents, we just wanted to see what kind of level he was at and whether it was something he could go further with.”

Moving more onto the trials with Crewe, Wade explained what they entailed: “At Crewe they went through game based scenarios such as soft setbacks and through balls, so it was a very technical point of view of forward play. As well as this, they also did some work on finishing.”

“One of the sessions was rained off so the lads were taken into the dome where they worked on their ball mastery, so they worked on kick ups, Cruyff turns, things like that so great contingency planning really.”

He also explained the set up with Barnsley telling us: “It’s been great with Barnsley too, during his last session they were working on sports science which is a great way to kids understanding about fitness, stretching, how the body works, different muscle groups and things like that.”

“Then they went into drills and focused on spacial awareness, looking at if they could find space quickly and how does space affect the team from an offensive point of view as well.”

“Its a three month trial with Barnsley, we’ll see where it goes but it certainly gives him the opportunity develop in a great environment. Three months is a good window to see what a kid can do.”

UK Football Trials are delighted to announce that after his three-month trial, Barnsley have opted to sign Christian to their academy!

We asked Wade for any advice he has for players that are in a similar position to Christian, he told us: “Just go and try it because I don’t think you can really lose from taking part in a UK Football Trials.”

“If you come away and you’ve not been scouted you’ve not really lost anything, you’ve only gained purely because you’ve had the opportunity of great coaching on the day. Keith from Barnsley was one of the coaches on the day.”

We would like to congratulate Christian on his signing and wish him the best of luck going forward with the club.