By Tom Burton
Five graduates were flying the flag for Kinetic this week as RJ Pingling signed for Premier League Burnley while Malachi Simpson and Rio Davidson-Phipps joined Barnet.
And hoping to build on last season’s success, Josh Maja took off on tour with Sunderland and Myles Kenlock was tipped for a first team spot at Ipswich.
Pingling’s move to Burnley takes the number of Kinetic graduates signed to pro clubs up to 16. The 17-year-old left sided player joins up with the U18s. He put pen to paper this week with members of his family celebrating the occasion alongside him.
Town boss Mick McCarthy is expecting Kenlock to become a first team regular. Maja, who is training in Austria ahead of the new season, is hoping to do the same for Sam Allardyce’s Sunderland.
It has been an exciting couple of seasons for Kinetic and the coaches have been impressed with the players’ application and development. Meli Istrefi, Joe Aribo and Dean Davis have signed for Charlton while Wes Fonguck, Malachi Simpson, Remi Gyimah and Ryan Gondoh signed for Barnet.
Myles Kenlock, Stephane Bombelenga and Kolade Salaudeen all penned deals at Ipswich Town. Josh Maja joined Sunderland and Omar Richards signed for Reading. Adam Aziz signed for Southampton and David Kawa joined AFC Wimbledon.
Who will be next? The first training camps take place in October Half Term with trials in September.