Kottan with England-based midfielder Adnan Farooq Ahmad. Adnan currently plays for Ferencvaros FC, Hungary and represented Pakistan at the AFC Challenge Cup Qualifiers in Sri Lanka in April this year. -Photo courtesy of FootballPakistan.com

LAHORE Pakistan national football team coach George Kottan has spotted three talented under-20 Pakistani players in the European League, a spokesman of the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) said here on Wednesday.

'I have checked three U-20 players Harun Bhatti, Yousuf Butt and Bilal Butt keenly and am confident that the youngsters would breathe new life into the Pakistan team in the coming days,' Vienna-born Kottan said through a press statement on Wednesday.

'My European trip was successful as I was able to hunt out some new, young faces ready and willing to offer their services to Pakistan in the near future,' Kottan said.

Pakistan Football Federation's (PFF) President Makhdoom Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat had in August asked Kottan to try and nurture new talent from the Euro Leagues in order to provide some key players to the national and national U-23 team for upcoming international assignments.

'There may be some good players of Pakistani origin in Europe and they could eventually prove very helpful for the team,' he said.

Former Bolton Wanderers Academy player, Harun Bhatti is now right-fullback of Accrington Stanley Club from Accrington in Lancashire, in the North-West of England.

He is a professional and has tasted success with the clubs in the pre-season trials. The club's boss John Coleman says about Harun 'A tall, athletic player who plays as fullback but made his debut in the midfield, which immediately demonstrates his versatility.'

He used to appear in the Football League Youth Alliance, a second tier of youth football competition in England, beneath the FA Premier Academy League. The competition is currently contested by 58 clubs.

Bilal Butt, also born in 1991 and is like Harun a centre-back of Brentford Club, a professional English football club based in Brentford in the London Borough of Hounslow. They are currently playing in Football League One. Yousuf Butt used to play as goalkeeper in Danish 1st Division for the Hellerup Idræts Klub (HIK). He was born on Oct 18, 1989. Yousuf is still under-20 and impressed Manager Hasse Kuhn.