🚨 Excl - Middlesbrough 18-year-old striker Ajay Matthews set to leave this summer.Some of the clubs that have held discussions and hopeful of signing him include. Celtic Rangers Southampton Brighton Brentford Newcastle 16 goals in 17 starts this season for the youth… pic.twitter.com/czclGhcuCT— TheSecretScout (@TheSecretScout_) June 24, 2024
🚨🔵 Chelsea talent Michael Golding set to join Leicester City in separate deal after Dewsbury-Hall moves to #CFC for £30m.Talks underway between clubs. pic.twitter.com/jFZqdfhmJF— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) June 30, 2024
🚨🔵 EXCL: Manchester City agree deal to sign 2006 born talented midfielder Han Willhoft-King for the U19.Willhoft-King left Tottenham few weeks ago and he’s joining #MCFC on two year contract.Medical tests set to take place shortly. pic.twitter.com/n4ArCBCYyv— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) July 2, 2024 Does anyone know if this lad's any good? Apparently eligible for seven countries internationally which is nuts.
Scored the winner in the U18 North London derby a few months back, Spurs offered him a contract but he turned it down, he's a pretty tidy player.
Not the worst player but probably would have been behind Hall, Abbott, Olusesi, Kyerematen and Leo Black (if he moves back to midfield) for us if he wanted to make the step up to u21s next season. Was fairly highly rated previously and made the guardian next gen list a couple of years ago but probably says a lot that Man City have only offered him a 2 year deal. As said above, he turned down a new deal to leave so Spurs will get a compensation fee from City.
❌ Lewis Miley will undergo an operation in London on Monday on a broken bone in his foot. A freak incident at training ground y'day whilst turning. 12 weeks out with return date end of Sep/start of Oct & hope he'll only miss 6 PL games #nufc— Craig Hope (@CraigHope_DM) July 3, 2024
Man City seems a strange choice for opportunity as u21 midfield is heavy with talent of 2005/2006 age groups. Also City generally offer 3-5 year pro contracts currently so read into the 2 years what you will
We have agreed terms for exciting young midfielder Michael Golding from Chelsea 🦊— Leicester City (@LCFC) July 7, 2024
Yeah, a lot of the Spurs youth watchers are a bit confused why City would go for him. Probably the right decision for him to leave us because our u21s are very strong in midfield but probably not going to be any easier to get game-time at City. Not particuarly cheap for City either since they would have to pay Spurs a compensation fee and around £300k-£400k in training compensation if they give him his first pro-contract...
Arsenal youngster Ayden Heaven attracting interest from Borussia Dortmund. Teenager currently a scholar, but Arsenal want to keep hold of him.More here:https://t.co/Z9e9Mz2Pdk— Simon Collings (@sr_collings) July 8, 2024
🔴🏴 Talent 2006 born winger Ashton Missin has signed a new deal at Manchester United, all completed. pic.twitter.com/7XGKXSSL70— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) July 10, 2024
🚨🔴⚪️ EXCLUSIVE: Arsenal submit first proposal to Ajax for 18 year old goalkeeper Tommy Setford.Negotiations ongoing, Ajax sources see Setford as big talent but current deal expires in June 2025.England U20 GK keen on the move. pic.twitter.com/7EmNeSxI3C— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) July 11, 2024
🚨🔴 | Arsenal have reached an agreement with Ajax to sign Tommy Setford. A compromise fee in the region of €1M plus add-ons has been reached and Setford is expected to sign an initial four-year contract. #AFC(@David_Ornstein // @TheAthleticFC) pic.twitter.com/GO6vUaOtGg— Everything England 🏴 (@TheEngllshGame) July 14, 2024 🚨 EXCL: Arsenal strike agreement with Ajax to sign goalkeeper Tommy Setford. Fee for 18yo #Ajax talent & England youth international around €1m + add-ons. Highly-rated prospect expected to join on initial 4yr contract to bolster #AFC ranks @TheAthleticFC https://t.co/pZR81bIFXc— David Ornstein (@David_Ornstein) July 14, 2024
Interesting move. It probably means that he'll stick with England going forward. I wonder what is going on with his brother who doesn't seem to have kicked on and hasn't played for England for a few years. I know he had a major injury and surgery on his wrist which doesn't bode well for a keeper.
I wonder what their short-term plan for him is. Some Arsenal fans seem to expect him to be 3rd choice this season. You'd think he'll need a loan at some point in the next couple of years though.
Salford City is pleased to announce the loan signing of Matty Young from Sunderland for the 2024-25 season 🧤— Salford City FC (@SalfordCityFC) July 18, 2024
(🟢) NEW:Jayden Danns to seal loan to Plymouth.[@LewisBower2021] pic.twitter.com/bhEJEvb6jl— The Anfield Talk (@TheAnfieldTalk) July 25, 2024 Hard to know what to make of this. Good that he's going to get some senior experience but not sure Plymouth is the best destination given they've got Rooney as their manager and are probably going struggle a lot this season. Given how little experience Danns has I think it'd be better if he went to a more stable mid-table side but we'll see how it goes.
West Ham have made a £30m bid and offered 18-year-old English midfielder Lewis Orford in a move to sign Aston Villa and Colombia striker Jhon Duran, 20. (Athletic - subscription required)
There is a nice profile about Nico O'Reilly in the Athletic. Looks like Guardiola rates him, and he plays him in the "Rodri position" now.
Very encouraging comments from Guardiola, on the face of it. Here's The Athletic's article for anyone who's not subscribed: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5672985/2024/08/01/nico-oreilly-man-city-tour-pep-guardiola/ Nico O’Reilly, the latest Manchester City academy star to impress Pep Guardiola “We saw it last season when Nico O’Reilly was training with us,” Pep Guardiola said as he mulled over his words, before deciding upon a sentence that might stick with the youngster for the rest of his career. “He’s a guy who will be a player. He will be a player.” O’Reilly, 19, has probably been the Manchester City youngster who has shone brightest on their pre-season tour of the United States. Two years ago, City took Rico Lewis on a U.S. pre-season tour, prompting a moment of realisation in Guardiola that he had another “player” on his hands. Since then, Lewis has helped City win the treble and their fourth consecutive Premier League title. The manager says he felt the same about O’Reilly when he joined first-team training last season. In New York at the weekend, Guardiola talked about “three, four, five interesting players in case we need them” and, although he declined to name them when asked, it has become clear that O’Reilly will be among them. Guardiola has already talked up the possibility of O’Reilly replacing Rodri, generally considered the impossible job around the club. “I am pretty sure he can help us,” Guardiola said on Tuesday following City’s friendly against Barcelona in Orlando. “He can play with us, even as a holding midfielder when Rodri is not there. We have Kalvin Phillips. I don’t know what is going to happen, but we have Kova (Mateo Kovacic), and we have Nico. I know he can play it.” O’Reilly stopped to talk to journalists at the Camping World Stadium shortly after (where he was handed a Lionel Messi-printed Inter Miami shirt by an Argentinian reporter who had clearly been impressed). “That means so much to hear that,” O’Reilly said, still holding the Messi shirt. “From the best manager in the world, it makes me so happy.” The thing is, O’Reilly is not a holding midfielder by trade. He has been an attacking midfielder since he first started with City as an under-six, a background that is helping with his sudden adaptation to the new role. “We’ve done the same system since I was a baby so I do know what I’m doing there,” he insists. “It’s the same philosophy from the academy to the first team. It’s just about finding the pockets and trying to play my game.” That game has been catching the eye for years — in 2015 and 2016, when he was in the under-10s and under-11s, he won back-to-back Premier League national championships while being named player of the tournament. He has also won individual awards in overseas competitions, and there have been plenty of those, including trips to San Diego as a 13-year-old, Japan at 14 and tournaments in Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, Latvia, France, Belgium, Italy, Portugal, including the prestigious KDB Cup, Riga Cup and Iber Cup. But it is striking to remember that things like playing in front of a crowd, never mind the 63,000 fans in Orlando, are still new experiences. “I’m happy with my performances. I know there’s a lot more to come from myself, to be a bit sharper on the pitch, but it will come with time and experience,” he says. “I’ve never played in front of crowds like this before so that’s new, I can’t really hear what the coach is saying and what the players are saying but I enjoy it.” O’Reilly played for two Manchester youth clubs, Failsworth Dynamos and Moston Tigers, at grassroots level, and because their games were often played at different times he used to play the first game, get changed in a couple of minutes and go and play the other. Until youngsters sign for professional clubs at under-nines, they are free to train with any club within their catchment area. This means that young players in the north west can train at City, Manchester United, Liverpool and Everton, or Blackburn Rovers and Bolton Wanderers. O’Reilly, though, committed himself to City even then, which coaches believe has helped his development. He only had to focus on one style of coaching — and that methodology matches what the first-team manager wants to do. His decision-making stood out at an early age — other clubs like to focus on dribbling and beating players and City encourage that, too, but there is more emphasis on finding the pass. Given City’s best academy coaches often progress through the ranks at a similar rate to the players, a lot of O’Reilly’s development was overseen by Danny Walker, who impressed Enzo Maresca during his time at City and has since followed the Italian to Leicester City and Chelsea. He actually first trained with Guardiola three years ago, a year before he signed pro terms with the club. O’Reilly admits that he still has to develop physically and Guardiola says he is “a little bit concerned” about the fact that he gets cramp when playing 90 minutes, but at 6ft 2in (188cm), he is bigger than most City academy players. “Normally, all the academy players are like Rico Lewis and Oscar Bobb,” Guardiola said, gesturing about their size. “At least we have a (tall) guy like (Nico). “He had a long, long injury last season. He came back in the middle of last season and trained with us and I said, ‘Wow’. This guy has good things. From corners, good header, so strong in the duels, in the small spaces he moves well. As an attacking midfielder, you will see him arrive (in the box), he can play the dual position, holding midfielder, attacking midfielder. “It’s because of the academy, we are blessed to have these players.” Those around Guardiola credit the youth setup for helping O’Reilly stay resilient during a five-month lay-off due to an ankle injury sustained last summer. Youth coaches do not want a player’s first setback to cause them too much distress, so they attempt to build up their tolerance levels over the years. Some examples include giving wrong decisions against them during training matches to see how they react, or leaving the captain on the bench for a match to see what reaction it prompts. When that injury setback came along, the first of his academy journey, it did not derail his progress. He has risen through the ranks with Lewis, while his best friend in football, 19-year-old Jadel Katongo, is also on the senior tour this summer. “It’s an amazing feeling, we were together when we were so small and we’ve gone all the way,” he says. “Rico came here two years ago and smashed it, took his chance, and I’m trying to do the same.”
🟣🔵 Aston Villa have sent formal bid to Sunderland for England U17 striker Mason Cotcher.He’s already training with Villa youth squad and impressing with his performances.Villa want to anticipate other PL clubs and sign Cotcher as potential new talent for the Academy. pic.twitter.com/dbN0lDnuPU— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 2, 2024
Liverpool are stalling on a decision on young attacker Jayden Danns, who is wanted by Wayne Rooney at Plymouth. (The Sun)