18-year-old attacking midfielder Hassan Ayari signed for Sheffield United’s academy after attending a number of UK Football Trials events including our five-day camp and Birmingham trial.

After growing up in New York, Hassan was trained by his father Kamel from the age of three and was dubbed little Messi for his amazing skills, which he posted videos of to his YouTube channel.

With his YouTube channel growing and Hassan getting millions of views, he continued to develop as a player, by playing for teams in the US and training at home. By the time he was 12, Hassan had 10,000 hours of practice!

Moving from the US to Northern Ireland, Hassan continued to develop as a player signing for TW Braga who he scored 40 goals for in a single season! This was also when he decided to attend UK Football Trials events where he wowed scouts with his talent.

In 2018 for family reasons, the Ayari’s decided to move to Sheffield, England where a a Sheffield United scout spotted the youngster at our trial event. After trialling with the club, Hassan was offered a scholarship.

Last season was where Hassan really found his feet though. For Sheffield United’s U18’s he had nine appearances, 10 goals, three assists and a goal of the month award. As well as this, he also made his U23’s debut and bagged two goals.

Hassan’s progression doesn’t stop there though. On top of his amazing achievements for Sheffield United, Hassan also made his debut for Tunisia U20’s where he assisted a vital goal to help them qualify for the Africa U20 Cup Of Nations.

Hassan’s incredible journey is just the beginning and everyone at UK Football Trials would like to wish him the best of luck going forward. We will continue to announce updates as they come in.