JAMIE SEMPLE, the 14-year-old Motherwell prodigy who has been training with Mark McGhee’s first-team squad, will travel to Sunderland on Monday for a trial with the Barclays Premier League side.

Semple, who had a similar spell at Southampton during the course of last season and impressed the coaching team at St Mary’s in an Under-20 bounce match, is one of Scottish football’s hottest prospects and has attracted interest from some of English football’s biggest clubs including Liverpool, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur.

Indeed the youngster, who made his debut for Stephen Craigan’s Under-20 squad against Dundee United last season, will travel to Merseyside in October for a similar trial at Anfield and is expected to secure a move to one of England’s elite in the near future.

Last month, Semple was one of four Motherwell players included in the Scotland Under-15 squad get-together at Airdrie.