Manchester United embraced their youth movement during the 2019-20 Premier League opener against Chelsea. During The Red Devils’ 4-0 win over The Blues, the three goalscorers were 23 or younger. Anthony Martial is 23, while both Marcus Rashford and Daniel James are 21. However, that policy of adding top-notch youth talent not only applies for the senior team.
Recent reports have indicated that Manchester United reached an agreement to sign highly-rated 16-year-old Hannibal Mejbri from Monaco. The France U16 international never featured for Les Monegasques’ senior squad. However, several experts rank him as one of the top U17 players in Europe. And now he will join Manchester United’s Academy with a clear goal of reaching the senior squad sooner than later.
Mejbri has not been Manchester United’s lone addition, however…
But adding Mejbri does not mean United will stop making moves on the transfer market. The Old Trafford outfit also announced the arrival of 16-year-old defender Bjorn Hardley, while also completing move for three other Under-18 members. These are Dillon Hoogewerf from Ajax, Mateo Mejia from Real Zaragoza, and goalkeeper Johan Guadagno from IF Brommapojkarna. Out of these three players, Hoogewerf is the one with bigger expectations over his shoulders.
To make things even better, Manchester United also announced two U23 players have extended their deals with the club. Both Paul Woolston and Luca Ercolani will remain at Old Trafford, and the latter could debut for the senior squad sooner than later. All signs point towards him cracking the senior side soon. Ercolani has shown he deserves that chance.
Manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has no problem adding youngsters into the senior squad. Names such as Tahith Chong, Angel Gomes and Mason Greenwood have already settled in the senior squad, and these aforementioned youngsters could soon follow. They just need to continue their development at Carrington, where Manchester United have already shown they can get maximum potential out of young players who are willing to work hard to take things to the next level.
Leave a Reply