Manchester United are considering making a move for Southampton’s young star Jake Hesketh according to a report in The Daily Mail on Monday.
There has been much conjecture about the comparative wellbeing of the youth academies at Manchester United and cross-city rivals Manchester City, since the latter built a state-of-the-art facility at their training ground which cost in the region of £200m.
The report states that United are concerned that they have fallen off the pace in terms of youth development and that Hesketh could be the first of a raft of new young signings.
The Daily Mail states:
Manchester United consider move for Southampton starlet Jake Hesketh to kick-start overhaul of dwindling youth academy
The 19 year old midfielder has already played twice in the first team for Southampton since a debut in 2014. Coincidentally, he made his debut against Manchester United as a 70th minute substitute for Dusan Tadic at St.Mary’s in December of that year.
Hesketh was also an important part of the Saints U21 side last season and played 22 times for the youth team as they won the Premier League Cup.
Manchester United may well be interested but Hesketh’s current club will certainly want to hold on to the midfield prospect.
They have been victims of their own success in the last few years as other clubs from The Premier League have besieged them with bids for products of their famed youth system and well-scouted foreign talents.
But we can imagine Ronald Koeman taking a typically firm stance on this subject so don’t expect a big move to Manchester United for the youngster any time soon – unless of course he tries to engineer a move himself.
You can see some of his highlights here.