West Ham teenage prodigy should be cautious over Man Utd move
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Reece Oxford is being linked with a move to Manchester United, with the Premier League giants reportedly willing to part with £8million to sign the West Ham man.
Moving to the Red Devils is traditionally seen as a dream move for young footballers, but Oxford needs to approach this with caution.
Looking at recent teenage signings who went to Old Trafford, it would appear that the Red Devils can no longer boast the ability to mould prodigious talents into stars.
Anthony Martial and Luke Shaw are the only two transfers of this kind that can be viewed as successes, but even those deals come with some caveats.
Firstly, the financial outlay of bringing both of these youngsters in was £63million, with both signings breaking the record paid for a teenager at the time they went through.
Furthermore, those numbers could go up when add-ons come into effect and, despite the money invested, neither have been fully utilised at Old Trafford.
Shaw only really established himself as a starter at the beginning of this campaign, before injury stopped his development, and Martial is being forced to play out wide as opposed to his preferred central role.
Regan Poole is the most recent young signing for United, but is currently unavailable to even play for his new club.
The 17-year-old has yet to receive international clearance following his move from Newport County, who despite playing in England are a Welsh side, and this was a massive oversight from the Red Devils.
Saidy Janko moved to Manchester as a 19-year-old, joining from FC Zurich as one of only two David Moyes summer signings.
He failed to get a first-team start at United over two years at the club, despite being voted Reserve Player of the Year in 2014, and moved to Celtic on a free this summer.
Much was expected of the 18-year-old Nick Powell when he signed for the Red Devils from Crewe for £6million in 2012.
Three years later and the 21-year-old hasn’t developed as many predicted he would and a 2014 loan spell at Leicester City was ended early due to his alleged poor attitude.
Angelo Henriquez joined when he 18 and, following the pattern of those already mentioned, failed to start for the Red Devils before signing for Dinamo Zagreb in 2015, where he has flourished.
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