Nuri Latham has been signed by UK Championship side Preston North End after a successful trial.

The 14-year-old goalkeeper has been recruited by the club’s academy and is delighted to take the next steps on what he hopes will culminate in a long professional career

“I am very proud of myself and feel very deserving of it because I've been putting in the hard work,” Latham told The Royal Gazette.

“Putting in my extras, training before and after school regardless of the weather, and my diet has also been very important.”

Preston, who play in the same league as Nahki Wells’s Bristol City, were founding members of the English Football League and the first league champions, finishing the 1888–89 season undefeated and winning the league and FA Cup.

“They have a really good history and are in the Championship so it's a massive club in England,” Latham added.

“They are a big club and a really great environment for me to be in. Everyone has been friendly and welcoming, and I like that they care more about developing players versus just winning trophies.”

The goalkeeper is adjusting well to his new surroundings and is relishing the opportunity to take his game to the next level.

“The training is intense, which I expected,” he said.

“The coaches give diverse drills and focus on tactical work, which is good for player development and better understanding of the game. The standard at Preston is a very high level. It’s very professional and they take pride as a club.

“As far as the pace of the game, it’s incredibly quick and as a goalkeeper if you are not up to it and switched on you can easily get caught out, which is not a good feeling, and fortunately I have remained switched on at Preston.”

The teenager’s transition has not come without setbacks after he suffered an injury at the beginning of his time with the Lancashire-based club.

“My first month in I got a new goalkeeping coach and the training intensity was at such a high calibre that I ended up pulling my hamstring after the first session,” he said. “I learnt early on the importance of stretching and have been injury free since then.“

Latham is also benefiting from the skills he acquired while attending Liverpool’s Development Centre last year.

“That established for me the importance of communicating as a goalkeeper and laid the foundation of the importance of communication and how loud I have to be,” he said.

“I played a year outfield as a centre back, which improved my footwork, awareness of the game and communication that helped me to stay switched on as a goalkeeper,” he said.

“I continued playing centre back with the under-15s and also joined the Sunday League as an under-14 goalkeeper that gave me an opportunity to play more games and implement things I learnt in training.”

Like any other athlete, the player has set himself goals, which includes earning a placement as a scholar at the academy, establishing himself as the No 1 for the senior national team and helping the island achieve success on the international scene, as well as playing for Premier League outfit Liverpool one day.

Latham has also benefited from a partnership between Bermuda’s Brazilian Football School and global football consultants Galacticos Soccer Services, headed up by founder Toni Robinson, who helped pave the way for him to have a trial at Preston.

“Bermuda’s Brazilian Football School is a partner and responsible for the boys that I identify from Bermuda to come up for football and education,” Dennis Brown, the BBFS cofounder, said.

“Latham has been with Bermuda’s Brazilian Football School since age nine and Toni and I have the education football programme which his parents were interested in.

“We don’t offer trials to anybody; they’ll get trials on their own as they progress. We put them in grass roots programmes and their actions speak for them, so obviously Latham’s actions spoke for him.

“He was highly sought by a lot of people and at the right time Toni put him into Preston North End for a trial and they signed him before it was over, so they were very impressed with him from the beginning.

“Latham trained with Bermuda’s Brazilian Football School until he went to the UK at 12 and the rest is history. In two years he’s been signed by a professional club, for I believe two years up until 16, and then he’ll look for a senior contract after that.

“It’s all up to him. He has the world at his feet so it’s about him taking advantage of where he is now and trying to get to even higher levels.”

Robinson, father of Fulham and United States defender Antonee Robinson, is delighted to see the player benefit from the partnership.

“For Dennis and I, this is a moment in our crusade that we never forget,” he said. “Hunty is the first player in our programme to have proved our process.

“Hunty is an exceptional goalkeeper, a very good centre back and powerful athlete for his age. He could get an academy contract as a centre back but simply loves being in goal. He’s just a natural.

“I have produced 11 professionals in my time, including my son Antonee Robinson. They all had great talent, but even more, they all had a phenomenal mentality.

“I saw this mentality in Hunty at twelve years old and right there and then predicted he was going to go all the way to the top. Nothing since has changed my mind and today is just the beginning.”