A POLISH hotshot with York connections is on the verge of living every young footballer's dream and plying his trade in the Premiership.

Terry Venables' Middles-brough are currently casting their eye over one of Poland's brightest footballing talents in striker Pawel Abbott.

Abbott, who lived in York until he was 11 and was a pupil at Our Lady's RC Primary School in Acomb, previously spent a week on trial on Teesside just before Christmas.

He impressed sufficiently to be asked back again and is now coming to the end of a two-week trial when his future will be decided.

Should he have caught the eye again, Boro have reportedly already agreed to pay his club back home in Poland, FC LKS Lodz, £200,000 for the 18-year-old's services.

The 6ft 2ins youngster is highly rated in Poland and is a first team player for Lodz, who have won the Polish championship twice.

Abbott, who has an English father and a Polish mother, could soon come face to face with York City's England Under-18 'keeper Russ Howar-th whether he stays in this country or not.

Abbott is a member of the Polish Under-18 squad that will meet their English counterparts in a two-legged play-off in March for a place in this summer's European Cham-pionship finals.

He played for Middlesbrough's under-19s in their 1-0 win over Barnsley last week and in their 1-1 draw with Nottingham Forest on Monday but failed to get on the scoresheet.

Margaret Cooper, a teacher's assistant at Our Lady's, remembers a young Pawel arriving in this country from Poland.

He arrives with his family, including his older brother, Billy, unable to speak a word of English.

But she was surprised to learn Abbott was now on the verge of a lucrative career as a professional footballer.

"He was always very keen on sport and always very singled minded about it," she recalled.

Updated: 11:05 Saturday, February 03, 2001