Manchester United have reportedly beaten Tottenham to the chase and hope to land Sunderland wonderkid Joe Hugill in a six-figure transfer.
The Sun have reported that Manchester United have taken the lead over their former manager Jose Mourinho’s current team Tottenham in pursuit of Joe Hugill. Spurs have lost to United, who are reportedly set to fork out a six-figure fee in order to prise the youngster away from Sunderland.
The report states that Tottenham were leading the race for Hugill. But, with clubs hit with losses due to the virus outbreak and subsequent suspension of football, Spurs are now reportedly looking mostly at loan dealings and core signings. Manchester United have used this opportunity to swoop in and take the lead for the Black Cats hitman.
There are reports stating a compensation deal has been agreed between the two clubs and that Hugill is set to don the Manchester United colours when the new season commences.
16-year-old Joe Hugill has earned rave reviews from coaches within the Sunderland setup, with the forward already playing above his age group and touted to be one of the best prospects to emerge from the ‘Academy of Light’ programme. Hugill has 2 goals in 3 appearances in Premier League 2 and is likely to be knocking on the door for a first-team look-in at Sunderland.
Manchester United new academy signing Joe Hugill⭐
pic.twitter.com/sr007FFtBt— Fbref enthusiast (@UTDFuture) May 4, 2020
Manchester United have made it a mission to start young when recruiting, with a view to providing players for the first-team through their academy setup. The Red Devils have ramped up their youth recruitment and that has seen the likes of Hannibal Mejbri, Arnau Puigmal, Aliou Traore, Dillon Hoogwerf and other promising youngsters make their way to Manchester.
Tottenham built a reputation of bringing through youngsters and cultivating the young crop under Mauricio Pochettino and Jose Mourinho has taken over the reigns in more ways than one, with the former Manchester United manager already promoting Japhet Tanganga to the first-team setup.
Joe Hugill is not the only English youngster that United are chasing. Jude Bellingham is a priority target at Old Trafford, with the Red Devils leading the way for the Birmingham midfielder. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is also chasing Jadon Sancho as the manager looks to beef up the right side of the attack.
However, Hugill looks the toughest out of them to execute right now, despite the complexity of the deals involving Sancho and Bellingham. The 16-year-old is a self-professed life-long Sunderland fan and it will be a tricky task to convince him to leave the club he has been with from his boyhood.
A six-figure fee has been touted in the report for Hugill, which would be a bargain if he becomes a future first-teamer for Manchester United.