Workington have signed 23-year-old Bermuda international Ne-Jai Tucker on loan from Southport until the end of January.
An attacking midfielder, who started playing football in his native Bermuda at four years of age, Tucker moved to the UK with his family when he was 11.
He spent a couple of years in the Manchester City academy before being scouted playing football near Manchester for Urmston Sports Club in May 2016.
He was invited to trial for Burnley and played for their under-15s at Turf Moor the following day.
In July 2021 Tucker signed his first professional contract with Burnley and two months later scored his first goal for the under-23 team in Premier League 2 against Southampton at St Mary’s.
Tucker’s contract was due to expire at the end of the season, but Burnley announced they had activated the option for a further year in June 2022.
Tucker was personally name checked by new Burnley manager Vincent Kompany as a youngster that had impressed him during pre-season training in July 2022. However he was released by Burnley at the end of the 2022–23 season.
He joined National League North club Southport in July on an initial one-year deal having impressed the club’s management whilst on trial.
Having played in the various Bermuda age group sides he made his senior debut on 12 September 2023 in the CONCACAF Nations League against Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
To date he has played 13 times for his country with one goal.
Tucker will be in the squad for Saturday when Reds make the long trip to Cleethorpes for the first time.
Manager Billy Barr had been hoping to bring two new players into the squad for Saturday and was relieved to get one deal over the line, but still hoping to complete a second in time.
“We have one or two players nursing knocks at the moment so we will have to see how they are shaping-up nearer Saturday.
“Cleethorpes are a decent team from what I’ve seen, good at what they do, well organised and a real threat on set pieces with one defeat in the last six games,” he said.
