Manchester United are plotting a raid on Blackburn Rovers after joining the race for one of their highly-rated wonderkids.
On the pitch, Manchester United are gearing up for yet another era under a new manager, with the club still searching for a caretaker manager before appointing a permanent head coach in the summer.
For now, Darren Fletcher is continuing in his role for at least the FA Cup tie against Brighton and has hinted at the inclusion of a lot more academy players when speaking of the traditions of the club.
Off the pitch, the January transfer window has been dominated by names that could be leaving the club rather than signings, with Noussair Mazraoui’s name now among those linked away from Old Trafford.
However, this month the club have the chance to make shrewd signings of young prodigies to beat their rivals who will circle and try to poach wonderkid targets in the summer.
United target Tyjon transfer
With Ineos aiming to sign the best in class youngsters, it is no surprise to see the club linked with 17-year-old Blackburn Rovers striker Igor Tyjon.
The England under-17s international became the third youngest player in Blackburn’s history as he made his debut in 2024 at the age of 16, showing how much his club rate him.
According to The Sun, United have joined the hunt for the young Englishman who is increasingly likely to leave his current club.
However, Arsenal are still seen as the favourites to sign the striker after having a £1 million bid of their own rejected in the summer.
With Tyjon’s scholarship set to end in the summer, now is the last chance Blackburn can charge a fee for the player; otherwise, they would have to settle for a mandatory compensation fee from any other English Club who chooses to sign the player.
Rare positive under the Ineos regime.
Ineos have come under huge criticism recently and rightly so.
The hiring and then sacking of Dan Ashworth in a few months, indecision over Erik ten Hag before sacking him and then appointing Ruben Amorim, who had a unique and different system, to then sack him too.
However, the focus on bringing the best young talent to be nurtured at United is undoubtedly a big positive. With the academy being of the utmost importance to the club, this was something necessary so that the club does not fall behind the likes of Chelsea and Manchester City, who have recently been the kings of buying the best young talent.
While some may argue that some moves will stunt the growth of other talent, like going for Tyjon when United already have Chido Obi, it also creates healthy competition at that age, where often young players outgrow their level too quickly. Furthermore, there are no guarantees that all the players will make it, but having the best talent will always improve the chances that they do.
Finally, sometimes it’s not always the players you expect to shine who do, like in the case of Scott McTominay breaking into the side following a tough year two years with injuries and growth concerns.
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