David Pollinger may only be 11, but his
predatory instincts have already attracted the attentions of
two professional clubs. The Saltford Primary School youngster
was originally with Bristol Rovers earlier this year but,
after a blistering run of form with Bath Primary Schools, he
has just been signed up by south coast giants Southampton on a
two-year deal.
And the modest sharp shooter hopes the
move to join the recently relegated Premiership club will
accelerate the development of his already undoubted potential
in front of goal.
Pollinger's pivotal role in the Bath
Schools representative side saw him impress Saints scouts in
sensational style and he hopes the rest will be
history.
"I played against Southampton in a
tournament in Winchester and I scored a hat-trick so I think
that's why they became interested in me," recalled
Pollinger.
"They (Southampton scouts) watched me
throughout the season and then invited me down to
Southampton.
"I'm really enjoying it and the training
is very good. The facilities are also very good, but we do a
lot of our training on the first-team pitch at the University
of Bath."
The youngster, whose favourite player is
Chelsea and England star John Terry, has dreams of becoming a
professional one day at his favourite team - Newcastle
United.
And Bath Schools coach Tim Kirk sees
strong similarities with Pollinger and a certain Magpies
legend, who also graduated from the Southampton academy
ranks.
"I would liken him to Alan Shearer
because he holds the ball up so well and brings other people
into the game," said Kirk.
"David is quite a big lad for his age and
his physical presence scares the life out of the opposition.
He is very strong, but also a very intelligent player and he
heads the ball better than any other boy I've seen at his
age.
"He only joined our team halfway through
the season because his school didn't originally enter him for
our trials, but as soon as I saw him playing in a match I knew
we needed to get him on board.
"He's had a bit of a stop-start season
for us because he got injured in the South West Championships
after scoring two crucial goals.
"He has scored about five goals for us,
but his overall contribution to the team is more important and
he'll be back in the side for the national finals on June 18
because he's our number one
striker."
