As Manchester City and Manchester United keep an eye on the progress of Sunderland goalkeeper Matthew Young, a local bidding war may arise.
The City Football Academy boasts an impressive goalkeeping department, with Ederson and Stefan Ortega representing the main team, and sold England Under-21 goalkeeping hero James Trafford to Burnley for £19 million during the summer transfer window.
Cieran Slicker, a goalkeeper for the Scotland Under-21 team, transferred to Ipswich Town in July after a series of productive loan assignments following his growth with the Manchester City academy.
Joe Hart, a two-time Premier League champion and legendary goalkeeper for Manchester City, famously made 348 first-team appearances during the course of a 12-year stay at the Etihad Stadium after joining from Shrewsbury as a teenager in 2006.
City Football Academy scouts are now eying another potential teenage addition between the sticks, with Manchester City ‘monitoring’ the developments of Sunderland goalkeeper Matthew Young.
The 16-year-old is drawing interest from both Manchester City and Manchester United according to journalist Mark Douglas, of The i Newspaper.
Young, who made his first-team debut for Sunderland during pre-season, has been compared to England’s Jordan Pickford, who moved to Everton from the Stadium of Light for £30 million in 2017.
The adolescent has already made two appearances in the U18 Premier League and four outings in Premier League 2.
Young has so far kept two clean sheets in the Premier League 2, and Manchester City won both of the competitions last year.
The 16-year-old is being watched by the FAs for a potential call-up and may eventually join Sunderland’s first team squad.
After a strong start to the Sky Bet Championship season, Sunderland is currently vying for promotion back to the top flight and sits in a play-off spot.
With six victories from 10 league games, the Black Cats sit fourth in the standings.
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