Manchester United are ‘confident’ of signing prolific young Manchester City forward Charlie McNeill, report The Mail.
McNeill has already announced he is leaving City, and is said by the paper to be a United supporter.
McNeill is 16 and turns 17 in September. United must agree a deal with City, or a fee will be decided by a tribunal.
The negotiations between clubs are described in the report as ‘protracted’.
Leeds and Wolves are both said to be watching developments, while a report from SI.com a fortnight ago claimed McNeill could head to RB Leipzig. The Mirror had reported Juventus are also interested.
City would understandably be disappointed to lose McNeill to United, especially with the Red Devils heavy favourites to land ex-City youth prospect Jadon Sancho this summer.
United already have one prolific youth striker in Mason Greenwood, who now has 17 first team goals this season.
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Last week United added young forward Joe Hugill from Sunderland’s academy.
McNeill was reportedly in United’s academy as a youngster before switching to City, and is now said to be keen on a return, having become disillusioned with chances of progression at The Etihad.
Is a move likely to happen?
We would rate this one as 50-50 right now. It is difficult to say the chances of City agreeing a move with United are ‘high’.
The report claims City are insisting on a number of performance related clauses in the deal, which have delayed talks.
McNeill may simply get tired of being left in limbo and pursue a move elsewhere. He has plenty of interest, and City could delay his career progressing by making talks hard to conclude.
Ultimately though if a move to United is what McNeill wants, he will get it, and he will just have to be patient.
SI.com‘s report a fortnight ago claimed his move to Leipzig was agreed, so their interest has to be taken very seriously as a counter proposal.
McNeill is an England under-16 international and has great potential. If he joins United, he will be coming to a club which can help him realise it, as Mason Greenwood has shown.
It will be a really interesting one if he does sign, but United have seen young talent slip past us to German clubs twice already in 2020 with Erling Haaland and Jude Bellingham signing with Dortmund.
So we won’t get too carried away that Leipzig-linked McNeill is United bound just yet.
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