Manchester United Set To Sign Defender From Barcelona

General view of the Nou Camp before the match.

General view before the match Reuters / Paul Hanna

Manchester United’s youth recruitment policy has certainly improved considerably under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Under the gaffer, the days of Sir Alex Ferguson’s tenure wherein homegrown talent were promoted extensively appears to have taken place.

However, it cannot he denied that big transfer moves are still being relied upon by the Red Devils in order to make sweeping changes. Thus, combining the two approaches and recruiting upcoming teenagers certainly appears to be the right way to go as well.

In this regard, United may have already taken a strong step as Diario Sport claim that the Premier League side will sign 16-year-old Marc Jurado from Barcelona in the summer.

The report claims that the Red Devils have agreed terms with the teenager who functions as a right-back.

Further, it is understood that Jurado, who has spent 9 years playing for Barca’s youth setup and being one of the brightest prospects in their academy, elected to not renew his terms with the Spanish side and allegedly prefers a move to England instead. It was also claimed that Barca were willing to offer him improved financial terms and a path higher up the ranks.

If true, this will be a blow to the Camp Nou outfit who appear to be in dire need to revamp thier youth setup and promote talent from there up into the senior squad.

As for United, there is currently no pressing need for a right-back at the side with Aaron Wan-Bissaka proving to be an absolute gem and Diogo Dalot as the backup option appearing quite reliable. As such, this move may be an attempt to acquire a promising prospect with hope of future dividend if the development goes in a positive direction.

It will be interesting to see whether this will be a path that Solskjaer and company opt to go on more often, especially given the links to another teenager, Jude Bellingham.