Manchester City have swiped one of Manchester United’s highly-rated academy prospects after concluding a deal to sign centre-back Harrison Parker.
According to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, Manchester City have snapped up one of rival Manchester United’s top talents, having wrapped up the signing of highly-rated defender Harrison Parker.
The Premier League champions have apparently beaten four other top clubs to his signature. The 17-year-old is regarded as one of the brightest prospects in England’s youth circuit, so this update will undoubtedly come as a blow to United.
Players just don’t move between the Manchester clubs. The number of players who switched clubs between these two can probably be counted on the fingers of one hand. But that’s the case with first-team stars; it’s considerably more common at the youth level; however, Parker’s move from United to City has surely raised a few eyebrows.
United signed youth goal-machine Charlie McNeill from City for £750,000 before poaching Darren Fletcher’s twin sons, Jack and Tyler, in a double swoop worth a reported £1.25 million more recently.
But City have now handed their city rivals a taste of their own medicine by nabbing one of Manchester United’s prized academy talents, centre-back Parker, who has a bit of a habit of crossing enemy lines, having joined United from Arsenal in 2021.
After playing for one season at the Under-16 level, he was promoted to the Under-18s for the 2022–23 season. However, he only played once for the Under-18s last season due to a long-term injury before starting to push for a move away once he neared full fitness.
United worked hard in their attempts to keep the 17-year-old at Old Trafford and went to great lengths to prevent him moving across the city, even offering the defender their “highest youth deal” in a bid to try to keep him. While the Red Devils made a sizeable contractual offer, they were unwilling to break their wage structure and meet demands for a higher salary.
Parker turned down the offer in favour of moving across the city and will now continue his development at the City Football Academy.
The Citizens have been targeting Parker throughout the summer and are set to finally land him for their growing Elite Development Squad, from where the likes of Phil Foden and Rico Lewis have progressed into the first team, while names like Romeo Lavia, Gavin Bazunu, Cole Palmer, Taylor Harwood-Bellis, and Liam Delap sealed moves elsewhere after graduating from City academy ranks in recent years.
