Manchester United could find themselves rivalling Real Madrid over the signing of a 17-year-old, as they have both registered interest in signing an attacking talent who has scored 14 goals this season.
Despite Rúben Amorim’s sacking at the start of January, Manchester United are still expected to be active in the transfer window, as their search for an interim manager continues.
Antoine Semenyo was identified as a target, with a significant amount of money reportedly being put aside to pursue a deal, but they missed out on their target, with the Ghanaian signing for rivals, Manchester City.
The club are clearly in need of reinforcements, particularly in the midfield, an issue that was identified last summer but wasn’t acted on, with United now paying the price for not strengthening in the middle of the park.
While this transfer window has been focused on outgoings, rather than incomings, there is still room to do some shrewd business, with there still being three weeks until the window closes on February second.
Man Utd show interest in Lorenz Hutchinson
As reported by Fichajes, both Manchester United and Real Madrid have set their sights on Lorenz Hutchinson, one of the most promising young talents in youth football, with both clubs closely monitoring the 17-year-old striker’s progress.
Hutchinson has scored 14 goals and assisted three times for Leicester City’s U18 side in just 12 official games, while also scoring in one appearance for the U21 side in the Premier League 2.
Leicester City are reportedly well aware of the gem they have on their hands, with the outlet reporting that the club are in no hurry to let their player leave and want to continue developing him before potentially selling him for a significant amount.
Manchester United’s advantage over Real Madrid comes with the advantage of the domestic context and knowledge of the Leicester City environment over the Spanish giants.
INEOS need to be flexible with their transfer strategy
Going into the summer transfer window, INEOS’ transfer plan was clearly to sign Premier League-proven players, as seen by the signings of Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha, while also shifting their focus to signing young talent and developing them at the club.
Since INEOS took over, the club have signed Benjamin Šeško, Ayden Heaven, Joshua Zirkzee, Senne Lammens, Diego León, Leny Yoro and Patrick Dorgu, who are all 23 years old or younger.
The signing of Hutchinson could be the latest youth signing that the club could make to solidify their forward options for the future, but they risk missing out on the short-term as the talent develops.
An example of this is already happening in the Premier League with Chelsea, with their owners, BlueCo, assembling the youngest squad in the league this season, with an average age of 23.4. While they are, of course, a very talented side, the inexperience of the side has been apparent, with Enzo Maresca being sacked with the club sitting in eighth after a run of one win in nine.
As seen by Danny Welbeck coming back to haunt United once again in Brighton’s 2-1 win over his former club in the FA Cup, it is pivotal that United have some experience on their side to help shoulder the pressure put on the youth.
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