Manchester United have reportedly been joined by Newcastle United in the race to sign Grimsby Town’s highly-rated 16-year-old midfielder Ben Grist.
According to an exclusive report from Football League World, Manchester United are set to face added competition in their pursuit of 16-year-old Grimsby Town prospect Ben Grist. While Leicester City were already in contention for the teenager, now Newcastle United have also entered the fray to try and sign the Red Devils’ target.
Grist is a product of the Grimsby Town youth academy and is held in high esteem within the club. The 16-year-old midfielder is yet to make his first-team debut for the Mariners but has been training with the senior squad for quite some time now and was even on the substitutes’ bench for their EFL Trophy game against Harrogate Town back in September last year.
Following their relegation from the EFL League Two, there is a feeling that Grist could be on his way out of the club, with a move to a bigger team on the cards. And, Manchester United have been touted as one of the suitors for the 16-year-old midfielder ahead of the summer transfer window.
Grimsby Town manager Paul Hurst has confirmed talks are continuing with a number of Premier League clubs over Ben Grist.
Clubs linked include Leicester, Manchester United and Newcastle United.#NUFC #Grimsby
Paul | Magpie 24/7 pic.twitter.com/lm4j0kwCTM— Magpie 24/7 – Newcastle United (@Magpie24_7) June 3, 2021
The 20-time English champions have been quite active on the youth recruitment front over the past couple of transfer windows, bringing in talented youngsters from within the country as well as abroad. That trend is likely to continue this summer as well, especially with focus being on homegrown talents in lieu of the strict Brexit rules that have come into play.
To that end, Manchester United have been linked with a flurry of young starlets with potential such as Sheffield United prodigy Daniel Jebbison as well as Andrew Moran of Brighton & Hove Albion, who was also linked with Chelsea.
Grist, too, had emerged as a potential target for Manchester United but it had been claimed that the Red Devils could lose out to Leicester City in pursuit of the teenager. Now, apart from the Foxes, Newcastle United have also entered the picture to try and sign the Grimsby Town starlet in the upcoming transfer window, further complicating things for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer & co.
It now remains to be seen as to who comes out on top in this three-way transfer tussle between Manchester United, Leicester City as well as Newcastle United for the signing of Ben Grist.
