Joseph Mbong will not be joining the Bolton Wanderers Academy after the English club turned down the opportunity to sign the young Hibernians forward.

Regarded as one of the brightest prospects of Maltese football, Mbong had trials at the Bolton Wanderers Academy last week but was not offered a contract.

George Williams, the CEO of New Breed Sports Management who represented Mbong during discussions with Bolton, told Nigerian sports website SL10.ng that the 17-year-old left a very positive impression but financial issues dissuaded the club from signing him.

“Bolton decided against offering Joseph (Mbong) a contract. They continuously assured us that Joseph was better than any player they had in the youth side,” Williams was quoted as saying.

“The amount of money they would have had to pay for him was the big factor in them deciding against it.”

Sources close to the player told The Sunday Times of Malta that Mbong trained with Bolton’s Under-21 team despite being only 17 as the Academy officials had intended to rope the Malta U-17 striker into the U-21 squad if they decided to keep him.

They added that Bolton Wanderers decided not to retain Mbong after assessing the player’s age and his chances of breaking into the senior squad vis-a-vis the compensation fee they would have been obliged to pay Hibs for his signing as per FIFA regulations.

There is still hope that Mbong will move overseas as he is expected to have a trial with the Under-19 squad of Serie B club Catania in the coming weeks.

Dutch club PEC Zwolle are also believed to be monitoring his progress.

Malta U-17 forward Aidan Friggieri is expected to join the youth sector of Serie A club Lazio next week. Lazio stepped up their interest in the Sliema Wanderers youngster after their youth coaches had the opportunity to gauge his qualities during a trial.

Matthew Guillaumier, another up-and-coming player who forms part of the Malta U-17 squad, has turned down the chance to continue his career in Italy.

Having rejected an approach from Lazio, Guillaumier, 16, also received an offer from Genoa but he has decided to remain with St Andrew’s where he has already established himself as first-choice player for the senior team.

Meanwhile, the Malta U-17 squad, led by Sergio Soldano, have just returned from Wales where they played two friendly matches.

The Maltese boys struggled to cope with the physical strength of the Welsh as they lost both games, 5-0 and 5-1.

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