Kieran Geldenhuys probably will not be the only boy in the UAE to tell his careers teacher he wants to be a professional footballer. The difference is, the Jumeirah English Speaking School (JESS) Ranches pupil has a signed contract to take his dream a step nearer to becoming a reality. After a successful trial in the summer, Geldenhuys, 15, agreed a two-year professional deal with English League One side Notts County, which will begin after he takes his GCSE examinations year next June. "It's all a little bit surreal," said <a href="http://www.thenational.ae/sport/uae-sport/premier-league-ambition-for-two-dubai-teenagers">the South African-born Geldenhuys</a>, who was put up for the trial at County by the people behind Carlton Palmer's Soccer School in Dubai, where he has been a long-time member. "I was first sent to Gillingham this summer who offered me a deal, but the opportunity came up to go for trials to Notts County by their youth coach Mick Leonard and they also said they wanted me. "I had been on trial at Manchester United the previous year so I knew the level that was needed, and being from overseas means you've really got to show up better than the guys already there." The young defender will stay in the country until next summer to finish his final year of school in Dubai. "Then I'm off to England on my own to stay at the youth academy digs," he said. "It's pretty daunting, but this is what I want to do; it's what I have to do if I want to make it as a footballer." Rob Bergin, a JESS teacher and Geldenhuys's long-time school football coach, said he is the best young player he has ever seen, and describes him as a cross between Matthias Sammer, the former German defender, and Steven Gerrard, the Liverpool captain. Geldenhuys, himself, is no stranger to success on the pitch. "We have won the league for the past few years since I took over the Under 12s and we really have been a one-man team," Bergin said. "He has been captain all the way and the first time I saw Kieran, and I've coached a few good players, I knew he was something special. "He's miles ahead of everyone else in Dubai." You get the impression that the next few months will drag for Kieran as he waits to start his professional football career. "I will keep playing here for the school, the academy and my team called Precor in a Dubai men's league," he said. "And the plan is to go across to County every school holiday and play for them until I join them permanently. I can't wait. I'm confident in myself and I'm ready to give everything when I'm there." Geldenhuys's new manager will be Martin Allen, a former no-nonsense midfielder with West Ham United and Queens Park Rangers. And if there is one guarantee about Geldenhuys's time at Notts County, the manager will not allow his standards to slip. "They don't call the manager 'Mad Dog' for nothing," Geldenhuys said. "And let's leave it at that." ncameron@thenational Follow <strong>The National Sport </strong> on & Neil Cameron on
