Pretty Boy
24-10-2023, 08:04 AM
I know there are a few on here who follow the development team quite closely and I'm sure many will remember the above player. I attended a lot of the development games when he first came on the scene and he was in and around that squad at only 15. He also earned his first cap for the Philippines at only 18 and there was a fair bit of hype around him for a while. He went on loan to Gala Fairydean at 18, returned to Hibs then was supposed to go on loan to Civil Service Strollers but ended up going to a team in the Philippines instead, he then joined said team permanently about this time last year.
Reason I mention him is I was at the Preston Athletic game on Saturday and they had a trialist on the bench who I was sure I recognised. He came on and looked very slight but pretty neat and tidy on the ball. Sure enough after the game it was confirmed it was Gallantes, he had only arrived back into Scotland the night before. They announced he had signed not long after the game.
The team he had been playing for in the Philippines has been disbanded. It seems it was a hit of a weird set up to me; it was fairly similar to the concept of Celtic and Hearts having teams in the Lowland League in that it was primarily composed of young, developing players but playing in the countries top pro league and it was centrally controlled by the FA.
I'm quite interested to see how he does, I'm convinced he is better than the East of Scotland 1st division and it wouldn't shock me to see him playing at a higher level next season if he can put himself in the shop window for the next 6 months or so. I think it again highlights how big the jump is from promising youngster to first team football though.
Reason I mention him is I was at the Preston Athletic game on Saturday and they had a trialist on the bench who I was sure I recognised. He came on and looked very slight but pretty neat and tidy on the ball. Sure enough after the game it was confirmed it was Gallantes, he had only arrived back into Scotland the night before. They announced he had signed not long after the game.
The team he had been playing for in the Philippines has been disbanded. It seems it was a hit of a weird set up to me; it was fairly similar to the concept of Celtic and Hearts having teams in the Lowland League in that it was primarily composed of young, developing players but playing in the countries top pro league and it was centrally controlled by the FA.
I'm quite interested to see how he does, I'm convinced he is better than the East of Scotland 1st division and it wouldn't shock me to see him playing at a higher level next season if he can put himself in the shop window for the next 6 months or so. I think it again highlights how big the jump is from promising youngster to first team football though.