14-year-old Lorenzo Saponara has been on trial with Crystal Palace and Millwall after catching the eye of scouts at our one-day trial events held in Essex in July and November.

When talking to Marco Lorenzo’s father about his son’s football history, he told us: “Lorenzo started playing football very young, playing in many clubs in the Echo League in Essex and he also attended Tottenham and West Ham’s soccer schools.”

“Last year Lorenzo played in Eja under 14’s for Barkingside FC, Terry the manager believed in him and played him in centre midfield. Because of this, he had a fantastic season in this position and was strong, determined and always alert.”

We asked Marco what it was about Lorenzo that made him successful on the day, to which he responded: “He has been training very hard for the last 2 years and it showed. His performance on the day was phenomenal. He was stopped a few different times by scouts who were asking his for his details. These clubs included West ham, Tottenham, Crystal Palace, Arsenal and now Millwall.”

“Lorenzo also shows great physicality for his age (69kg 185cm) and technical presence, he can play with both feet but is primarily left footed.” He added.

Marco also went on to explain Lorenzo’s current situation telling us: “At the moment Lorenzo is still trialling with Crystal Palace, he has played around 6 matches for them and he has made a great impact.”

“He is also trialling with Millwall, the training is intense but he knew most of the drills that they went through which made it a bit easier. He is really enjoying it and currently waiting for a decision from the club.”

Everyone at UK Football Trials would like to congratulate Lorenzo and hope that he can continue to impress at Crystal Palace and Millwall.