MICHAEL Welch signed professional forms for Barnsley FC on Monday.

Michael, of Swanlow Lane, Winsford, will be playing for the Academy side at Oakwell, during a two-and-half-year scholarship which Premiership and first Division Clubs run with the FA.

He will continue a sports science course, which he started this year at South Cheshire College, attending Barnsley College on a two-day release.

The 17-year-old centre-half has been captaining Winsford United under-18s this season and has also captained Cheshire Schoolboys since taking up the game at the age of nine.

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