Italian Serie A side Messina are to open a soccer school in Malta as from next September, tough they are still to announce the local club who will act as their official partners on the island.

Addressing a news conference yesterday, Mario Bonsignore, a director of the school, said this was an ambitious project which the club hoped to enhance in forthcoming years.

He said it all started last year. “Since then we have 40 clubs in Sicily catering for around 5,000 children, and apart from Malta, we also expect to open a big school in Milan catering for another 4,000,” he said.

He said they had been impressed with the talents of some local youngsters while taking part in a tournament at Pieta and this was one factor which led them to take the decision to open such a school in Malta.

He added: “In 15 days, we will be able to announce who our partners will be. We have visited Hamrun, Pieta, Luxol St Andrew’s and San Gwann. We are making our assessments at present and will be able to make further announcements soon.”

Claudio Lucchini, who is responsible for the school, said the fact that Malta was close to Sicily, helped in no small way towards the realisation of such a proposal. “Every child has a dream, that is, that of one day becoming professional football players, and we want to make that come true for them. It is our duty to build something for the youngsters and this will be done with humility and professionalism. It will be a sort of feast for the participating children,” he said.

Antonello Preiti, head coach of the school, admitted that a lot of work still had to be done to establish such a school on a sound footing. “But we are not looking after immediate results. We wish to see some of the Maltese boys coming to Messina and wear the club’s yellow/red jersey in future as professional players,” he added.

The school will cater for children between the ages of six and 12.