T&T youth trio not yet signed.
By: Shaun Fuentes (TTFF).[/size]
Trinidad and Tobago National youth trio Lester Peltier, Khaleem Hyland and Atullah Guerra all retuned from England on Thursday where they visited English club Portsmouth as the process to obtain their work permits begun with the aim of the players securing contracts.
Peltier had been on English soil last month on trials and got the best offer from Portsmouth who subsequently showed interest in the promising talents – Guerra and Hyland who recently got a call from national senior team head coach Wim Rijsbergen.
However the deal is not yet done as all three players must be granted permits before any deal can be signed which means that at the moment they are still attached to CL Financial San Juan Jabloteh.
The TTFF was this week asked to provide all the necessary paperwork supporting the players status with the national youth teams.
“They arrived back here yesterday and Portsmouth have activated the process for the work permits,” Jabloteh head coach Terry Fenwick told TTFF Media. “Peltier has got a Dutch grandmother so hopefully that will work in his favour and we are trying to get a work holiday visa for Atullah. They also like Hyland very much.”
While Fenwick admitted that he was anxious over the wait to see if in fact the players can become T&T’s latest exports to the UK, he drew hope from the fact that Collin Samuel and Josh Johnson got their permits with limited international appearance for T&T at the senior level.
“Josh has gone out and he was at our club and he got through, so too was Collin who went out there with almost nothing under his belt and got the permit. We have got a number of people in good places working on it,” Fenwick said.
And while the youngsters wait out their time, World Cup team midfielder Aurtis Whitley heads out again on another trial, this time to Championship Division side Luton Town. He will be joined on trial by Anthony Wolfe.
Fenwick also gave some feedback on the recent visit by a Millwall youth team, saying Jabloteh had also developed ties with Portsmouth.
“Things went very well with Millwall’s visit. We have also tied Portsmouth into a deal whereby they will have to send a youth team to Trinidad at least two times over three seasons and we are looking to build on both relationships. It’s an opportunity for us to showcase our young talent.
“The Millwall team thoroughly enjoyed their visit. The Tobago teams did their part, Millwall enjoyed the Dwight Yorke Stadium which is in excellent condition and overall it was a win-win for both sides.
“We have a commitment from Ajax Amsterdam as well but it’s something that will materialize over a period of time and of course Liam Brady, the man in charge of youth development at Arsenal still has to come here, maybe at the end of June by the time the Gold Cup is over,” Fenwick continued.