Ne-Jai Tucker reached another milestone in his career after signing his first professional contract at English Premier League side Burnley.

The club announced yesterday that the Bermudian winger has agreed to the terms of an undisclosed deal having completed his scholarship at Turf Moor.

Tucker, 18, spent seven years coming through Burnley’s academy set-up and featured for the club’s under-23s who just missed out on a place in the play-offs in their first season in the second tier of Premier League 2 last season.

The Bermuda youth international is among seven players who began life as professionals having signed their first professional contracts as Burnley’s under-23s returned to start preseason training yesterday.

It is likely they will be a part of Burnley’s squad that travels to Scotland next week for a training camp at Stirling University.

Tucker moved to England with his family at the age of 11 after playing for North Village from age 4, and then moving to ABC Valencia.

Things happened pretty quickly for him at the age of 14, when he was spotted by a scout playing for his youth team in Manchester in May 2016.

”I was playing for my grassroots team, Urmston Sports Club,“ Tucker, who also spent 2½ years at the Manchester City youth academy before joining Burnley, told The Royal Gazette at the time.

”It was my last match for the season and a scout happened to be there with the opponents and asked for my information. Within one hour, I was called and invited to play in the Burnley under-15s’ last match at Turf Moor stadium, where the first team play. That was when it became exciting.

“I was more surprised by the opportunity to play for Burnley, as it happened so quickly. I never even got to train with the team; I literally went from my grassroots match on the Saturday afternoon and the next day playing for the Burnley under-15 team. I played the entire match!”