Manchester United have completed the acquisition of highly-rated goalkeeper Tom Wooster from Barnsley, with the star set to be a part of the club’s Under-16 squad.
According to Manchester Evening News, Tom Wooster has become the latest addition to the fledgling Manchester United youth setup. The Barnsley academy star has joined the Red Devils on a permanent basis but the report says that there might not be an official announcement regarding the transfer. The English youth international will be a part of United’s Under-16 squad for now, as per the report.
Tom Wooster might not be a name that is on every Barnsley fan’s lips. But, he wasn’t just any ordinary youth product. The 15-year-old had won the prestigious Academy Player of the Season Award for the 2019-20 season and had even trained with the Under-23 squad at Barnsley. Wooster also went on to represent England at the Under-15 level, thus solidifying his status as a talent to watch out for.
In fact, Barnsley academy manager Bobby Hassel had spoken highly of Wooster when he was adjudged the Academy Player of the Season.
“The Academy Player of the Season award has been thoroughly deserved by Tom. He has excelled in his respective age group and had the opportunity to play and train at higher age groups, also. Tom’s distribution from the goalkeeper position is as good as anything in the country for his age and, at 6’2, we have high hopes that he will go on in the coming years to come Barnsley’s number one goalkeeper.”
While Wooster might not be able to be the Barnsley number one in the future, his move to Manchester United has opened new doors for a talent of his calibre, not to mention the state-of-the-art facilities available at his disposal.
? Tom Wooster is our Academy Player of the Season!
— Barnsley FC (@BarnsleyFC) July 19, 2020
Manchester United have added loads of talents to their youth ranks this summer. Radek Vitek, Willy Kambwala, Alejandro Garnacho, Alvaro Fernandez and Isak Hansen-Aaroen are all touted to be future superstars. Domestic imports like Logan Pye, Charlie McNeill and Joe Hugill are no slouches either.
In fact, among the names mentioned herein, a host of stars have already made appearances for the Under-23 side, thus showing the level of success United’s youth recruitment has enjoyed in recent times. The report hints that Wooster will be linking up with the Under-16 squad for now. However, the 15-year-old will look to make the step up to the Under-18 squad soon.
Manchester United would hope for the same, considering United have four members in their Under-18 squad right now in the goalkeeping department – Daniel Polakowski, Radek Vitek, Johan Guadagno and Dermot Mee. The first three names are 17 while Dermot is 18, with all four of them expected to make the next grade or be sent out on loan to gain experience in the near future.
Wooster seems to be a direct replacement for Louis Forshaw, who left the Manchester United youth setup for Burnley.
GOALKEEPER DEPARTURE:
Academy GK Louis Forshaw has left Utd & joined Burnley.
This should mean a new GK is likely to take his place in the Utd academy
— Manchester United (@NewManUtdNews) November 21, 2020
It will be interesting to see if Wooster continues his development and charge up the ranks despite moving into a much more competitive youth squad in the form of Manchester United.
