13-year-old Christian Fernando Arias Jerez was scouted from our Sheffield trial back in October 2021 by Lincoln City.

We caught up Christian to find out more about his football history, why he chose to attend our events and what has happened since being scouted.

Firstly, we asked Christian about his footballing background, he told us: "I have played for many different football clubs in different places around the world during my footballing career. I started at 6 in a 3rd division club in Spain called Sales Viladecans at the time but are now called Athletic Viladecans." 

"I then proceeded to play for a club in Montreal, Canada in the first division and got picked for ARSC there which was a selection of some of the best players." 

Christian continued: "When I got back to Spain at 11 yo, I then proceeded to go back to Athletic Viladecans, but this time they were in the 2nd division." 

"Lastly at 12 I moved to Lincoln and joined a Sunday league club called Rustons and won the league with them." 

"Asides from all of that my most notable achievement was playing in "Fundacion Marcet" from 6-8 yo, that is because it was a academy founded by an ex-Fc Barça and Real Madrid player called Francisco Javier Marcet Mundó."

With such a strong footballing background, we were curious as to why Christian hasn't gained attention from academies in the past. He shared his thoughts with us saying: "Personally, I think the reason why I didn't get a chance to get scouted before going to your trials is because of the lack of scouts watching Sunday League matches here in Lincoln and the lack of opportunities to demonstrate your capabilities in a serious environment where you can get scouted."

Moving onto his trial with Lincoln, Christian told us: "My club trial experience was actually very enjoyable, I trained and played in matches just like any other player would, which I think is a really positive thing since it makes you feel a bit more calm." 

"I trained every week on Mon, Wed and Thurs and usually had matches on the weekends. I really enjoyed the experience and I think I actually improved my game from just playing there."

He continued: "Fortunately, I ended up signing with Lincoln Fc after going on a 8 week-trial with them, I now have a contract for the season with them and I am really happy about it!"

As a player who has gone from grassroots to signing for a club, we asked Christian for advice to other players like himself. He said: "In my opinion if you think you have got the talent you just have to go for it and most importantly; enjoy it. There is no easy way to get scouted, but do make sure you always show the scouts a positive attitude, lots of interest and don't ever stand still during a game. You always need to try to be doing something to contribute to the drill/game"

UK Football Trials would like to congratulate Christian and will continue to release updates regarding his journey as they come in.