The Baller League made headlines earlier this week when NDL FC fielded a supposed active Premier League player in the 6-a-side, indoor football competition.
Hosted at the Copper Box Arena in Hackney, London, the Baller League is a concept which has been brought over to the United Kingdom from Germany, broadcast on Sky Sports and has struck a chord with a younger viewing demographic.
Games last 30 minutes, consisting of two 15-minute halves and often feature random, mid-game rule changes, particularly towards the end of each half.
We know who the Baller League's masked, mystery Premier League player is
Ex-professional footballers and online content creators go head-to-head as managers of the Baller League teams, 'managing' ex-academy prospects, recently-retired pros, and high-level semi-professional players.
Therefore, the introduction of an active Premier League player is something which certainly had the potential to disrupt the established order of things.
NDL FC substituted on the mystery footballer, who adorned a mask and tights to obscure his identity, against N5 FC on Monday, October 27. The player, listed as 'Trialist Trialist' and wearing no. 14, took a free-kick for NDL and was immediately substituted off again.
Since then, conventional football fans and those who regularly tune in to Baller League spectacles have debated who the mystery Premier League player could possibly be.
At FourFourTwo, we think we've figured it out.
Premier League clubs are especially protective of their players, who are for all intents and purposes, multi-million pound assets. Even with the guarantee of immediate substitution and the obscuring of his identity, clubs are highly likely to be reluctant to allow an active player of theirs to participate in such an activity.
Footballers are prevented from partaking in high-risk pursuits, such as skiing, for insurance purposes, while kick-arounds with friends are expressly prohibited in many players' contracts, in order to guard against injuries which could arise as a result of their extra-curricular activities.
Subbed on. Takes a free-kick. Subbed off.WHO IS NIKO'S MYSTERY PLAYER?! 👀 pic.twitter.com/EX3YaCqD2nOctober 27, 2025
Additionally, from an optics perspective, a team's player competing in something like the Baller League is not likely to be received well by supporters of that player's club, particularly if they're not doing well currently.
Therefore, it's extremely hard to believe the masked mystery man was someone like James Ward-Prowse, as some commenters online suggested.
But, for one second let's assume 'Trialist Trialist' is an active Premier League player. Well, there is Carabao Cup action this week, in which several Premier League players will be taking part.
No manager is allowing their player 24 or 48 hours before a match to participate in what many of an older generation may deem a frivolous activity. So, we can rule out players from Brentford and Fulham, who face Grimsby Town and Wycombe Wanderers, respectively, on Tuesday evening.
On Wednesday, Arsenal, Brighton, Liverpool, Crystal Palace, Manchester City, Wolves, Chelsea, Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur are all in Carabao Cup action, so chalk their players off, too.
That leaves nine teams this supposed Premier League player could be from: Bournemouth, Sunderland, Manchester United, Aston Villa, Everton, Leeds United, Burnley, Nottingham Forest and West Ham United.
The problem is, how many players would be able to get to Hackney, after training on Monday morning or afternoon if not already based in London? We've already established it isn't a player from six of the Premier League's seven London teams, leaving only West Ham, who are in dire straits at the moment.
Clubs are especially keen to manage the way in which they are perceived by their supporters, so if it came out that a Hammers player was involved in the Baller League, whilst sitting 19th in the Premier League table with one win and seven defeats in nine games this season, the fallout would be significant to say the least.
We can't see newly-installed Nottingham Forest boss Sean Dyche being a Baller League fan either, nor do we think Leeds' Daniel Farke would be best pleased to hear a member of his squad wants to partake in a viral, YouTube-style gimmick.
Sunderland players would find it too hard to train on Monday morning, catch a train or plane down to London for a five second cameo, and make it back to the north-east in time for Tuesday's session with the Black Cats.
We could go on, picking holes in the Baller League's marketing of an active Premier League player participating in Monday night's fixture, but we won't. We'll just tell you who we think it is.
It's Kevin Weggen. Who?
FourFourTwo understands the mystery player is in fact 32-year-old Weggen who currently plays for FC Buderich in Oberliga Niederrhein - Germany's regionalised fifth tier.
Weggen is a lower-league German player with a distinctive swagger and ball-striking technique, all of which is on display in the much-shared viral clip of his Baller League UK debut.
Who is Kevin Weggen?
Weggen is a prominent figure in the Baller League Germany, captaining Calcio Berlin and is regarded one of the competition's best players having scored 23 goals and 2 assists in 11 matches during the Spring 2025 season.
While the ploy of fielding an active Premier League player - who doesn't have to reveal his identity - is an effective marketing tool for the Baller League, it isn't strictly true.
Sorry for the spoilers.
