Zayn Ali Salman just turned five but was 4 when he caught the attention of various football clubs in London and entered England’s Arsenal pre-academy for his skills playing with children twice as old.
Coach Austin Schofield, who works with First Touch Football Academy, was impressed with Zayn’s ball control, passing and speed. So he decided to test it with older players.
Several clubs noticed him in the videos they uploaded to social media and even compared him to the Argentinian. Lionel messi. The boy’s Instagram account already has over 13,000 following him, proving his popularity from an early age.
Arsenal scout Stephen Deans noticed and was surprised Zayn had these skills while still in kindergarten.
He went on to become the youngest player to be signed by the “Gunners” and told the BBC: “This guy is doing something he shouldn’t be doing yet.”
“The way he hits the ball, he looked too precise for someone his age. So I called my friend (Schofield) and he told me he was four years old, I said, “Not at all, it can’t be. He’s still in kindergarten,” he added.
In England, teams can recruit and train players of any age, but can only be officially registered from the age of nine.
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