Sunderland, Newcastle court Mzuzu boy
Mzuzu International Academy student Isaac Ofesi is this December expected to undergo trials at academies for Barclays English Premier League rivals, Sunderland and Newcastle United.
The school’s head teacher George Bowery said he has contacts in both clubs and they asked for the trials after he sent them a DVD of the 16-year-old attacking midfielder. Academy players earn promotion to reserve sides then senior teams.
“[They] have agreed to form a joint venture where they will take top players from the academy for club trials to see if they are potential professional players. The first player to be offered this opportunity is Ofesi,” Bowery said in a statement sent through The Nation’s Mzuzu Bureau.
The grade 10 student will first undergo trials at Sunderland from December 15 to 20 2013 then proceed to Newcastle from December 26 to January 2 2014. Mzuzu academy will meet Ofesi’s travel expenses, according to Bowery.
Last year, Saint Andrews student Petro Mthunzi participated in youth trials in the United Kingdom and impressed Leicester City which invited him for trials this year in May.
But Mthunzi told The Nation that he did not make it as the trials coincided with his final-year examinations.
