ARGYLE have signed one of the outstanding 15-year-old goalkeepers in Europe - Latvia's under-16 international Raivo Varazinskis, from leading Latvian club Liepajas Metalurgs.
Varazinskis was first spotted playing against the Pilgrims' schoolboys when they were invited to play in a triangular tournament against the Latvian and Belarus international teams in Riga last May.
In four subsequent visits to Plymouth for assessment, the strapping six-footer has greatly impressed both head of youth coaching, Mike Pejic, and youth goalkeeper coach, Rhys Wilmot.
He is one of nine talented teenagers that Mike Pejic has invited to join Argyle as full-time apprentice footballers when they have completed their full-time education in June.
Seven of the nine are from Devon, with the best-known being midfielder Luke Young, who has been a regular in Argyle's under-18 team this season and who earlier this month created a favourable impression in the FA Youth Cup-tie against Tottenham Hotspur's star-studded Academy team at Home Park.
Three more of Pejic's selections were unused substitutes against Spurs - centre-back Sam Sawyer from Bideford, the brother of first teamer Gary Sawyer; midfielder Ben Clarvis from Newton Abbot; and striker Matt Rickard from Exeter.
Young, who comes from Southway in Plymouth, and another of Pejic's picks, centre-back Dan Evans, from Beacon Park in Plymouth, both attend Ivybridge Community College, which possesses a Football Academy overseen by ex-Argyle striker Sean McCarthy.
A third Plymothian to be recruited is striker Seb Broomfield, from Hooe, a student at Plymstock School.
The other new apprentices are: Connor Clifford, a left-back from Exeter, and Jake Baker, a midfielder from Jersey.
Most of these players will be in action on Saturday, either playing for Argyle's Under-18's against Hereford United in a Puma Youth Alliance fixture at Bolitho Park (kick-off 11am), or for the Under-16's in an away friendly against Millfield School (kick-off 2pm).
Mike Pejic expects to add further school-leavers to his squad in the next few weeks, as several trialists have impressed him and contract offers will be made if they reproduce their form on subsequent visits to Home Park.
"We shall be a bit thin on the ground with second-year apprentices next season, so we're taking on quite a few first-years and we may add to that," he explains.
"But the new ones have not been signed to boost numbers, it's because of the improvement that they've shown, especially as some of them have only been at our Centre of Excellence for a few months.
"The extra intensive scouting work we've done has paid off.
"We're going to have a young youth team next year. They're going to have to go through an extensive programme.
"Team results may not be what we want but the improvement in individuals' performances will be the main focus."
