Mark Wright to help LA Galaxy in their attempts to find the 'next Jamie Vardy'
Wednesday 24 May 2017 17:35, UK
TV personality and presenter Mark Wright will provide a helping hand to LA Galaxy when the Major League Soccer franchise attempt to unearth the "next Jamie Vardy" at their inaugural UK trials.
Galaxy will become the first MLS franchise to hold trials in the UK next week, with coaches and scouts from the club running the rule over players between the ages of 18-25 in London and Manchester.
From there, Galaxy will select a maximum of three players to take back to California, with the selected players continuing to train with the club in a bid to earn a full-time contract.
Wright, who is Galaxy's UK ambassador for the trials, was released by Tottenham at the age of 19 before falling out of the professional ranks and into the non-league.
Vardy has enjoyed a meteoric rise from non-league to Premier League and Wright believes the England and Leicester forward is the perfect inspiration for those attempting to earn a contract with Galaxy.
"I always go back to Jamie Vardy. He didn't really get noticed until he was 24, 25 when he was playing in the National League. Now, he's an absolute star nationally and in the Premier League," Wright told Sky Sports News HQ.
"It's hard to be noticed and I personally got released at 19 from Tottenham. I didn't know what way to turn, where I was going to go and what I was going to do.
"If this system was available back then, it would have been a dream come true. For me, to potentially go to California and play in the MLS, a league that is fast growing and looking like it will be one of the biggest in the world in the future.
"If that was on offer to me at 18, 19, 20 that's where I would have turned.
"I feel so passionate about it because I experienced rejection in football, I didn't know where to turn and my world crumbled down.
"To be on the sidelines and watch these players give everything they've got is going to be a touching moment, it's going to be incredible."
