ACADEMY WELCOMES NEW SCHOLARS

Main Club Sponsor

TICKETS

SHOP

10 players sign two-year deals

2026-06-26T11:00:00.000Z

ACADEMY WELCOMES NEW SCHOLARS

10 players sign two-year deals

2026-06-26T11:00:00.000Z

10 players sign two-year deals

Burnley Football Club are excited to announce that 10 new first-year scholars have joined our U18s squad ahead of the 2026/27 season.

The players and their families were formally inducted into the Clarets family with a presentation night at Turf Moor last night, with pre-season testing and training now underway.

As part of the presentation night, all 10 received their special scholarship caps – a tradition that started last season.

Johanan Lo-Tutala is a six foot seven-inch-tall goalkeeper who moves north from London, having been on Arsenal’s books since the age of nine. He qualifies for both England and France internationally.

There are four defenders within the group, including centre-back Glen Ilunga. He joined the Clarets in September of last year, and recently helped Republic of Ireland U17s qualify for the next U17 FIFA World Cup.

Elijah Turahirwa made six U18 Premier League appearances in his U16 season, while fellow central defender Darren Oshodi joined Burnley from Accrington Stanley last summer.

Right-back Tadi Murwira is now entering his fifth season as a Claret and participated in the Academy’s pre-season trip to Poland last summer as a schoolboy.

Sam Morley is a central midfielder who has been with the Club since his U9 year. Now 16, he netted in a U21s Premier League Cup match at Stockport County earlier this year.

Terry Leonard is an all action, creative midfielder who has previously been at Manchester City, while dynamic winger Aiden Huggett was born and raised in England but qualifies for the Philippines.

Archie Lorimer, who has represented Wales right up to U17 level, can play as a nine or 10 and also made the trip to Poznan with the young Clarets last summer.

Last but not least is striker Jas Mmakogu, who made two Premier League 2 appearances for Andy Farrell’s U21s side in 2025/26.

All 10 players have signed two-year scholarships, ad everybody at Burnley FC would like to wish them the very best of luck in this next step of their careers.