One of Malta’s top goalkeeping prospects Miguel Spiteri has signed for Spanish side FC Cartagena, becoming the latest football player to score a deal away from Malta’s shores.

Spiteri, who will turn 18 years old in a couple of days, signs with the Spanish side from Birkirkara FC, with whom he was training and playing for the past season.

It won’t be his first adventure on Spanish shores: Spiteri has played with the youth teams of CD Leganes and Getafe CF, before he then moved to Barnsley’s youth set-up in the UK.

He moved back to Malta and signed with Birkirkara after the Covid-19 pandemic scuppered a chance to move to a team in the Czech Republic, however his contract with the Maltese club stipulated that the club would not block any move abroad for him.

Cartagena’s senior team compete in the second tier of Spanish football, however their U19 team compete in Spain’s top youth tier – the Division de Honor.

Spiteri debuted with the Malta U19 national team last month in a 1-0 victory over San Marino.

The young goalkeeper is the latest Maltese prospect to make a move abroad: national team player Alex Satariano recently signed a three-year deal with Italian Serie B side Frosinone, while NET Television’s Replay have reported that Kyrian Nwoko – another national team player – is on the verge of signing with Northern Irish champions Linfield FC, with only a work permit left for the deal to be sealed.