Leicester City to beat Man United to transfer agreement for EFL midfielder | OneFootball

Leicester City appear set to beat Manchester United in the race for Grimsby Town midfielder Ben Grist, with the Daily Mail reporting that the Foxes are in pole position to sign the starlet this summer.

The 16-year-old is viewed as a serious prospect for the future and in recent days the Foxes have jumped ahead of their Premier League counterparts in the race for the player’s signature as they look to strengthen their ranks at academy level.

Grist has bee in and round the first team set up for a good while now with the Mariners and had previously also attracted interest from the likes of Liverpool and Chelsea in his services.

The recently relegated League Two side have disclosed that a move to the King Power Stadium is in the pipeline for their young prospect and they expect the teenager to depart Blundell Park in the near future.

Grimsby Town quiz: Does Blundell Park have a higher or lower capacity than these 18 grounds?

Signing Grist ahead of Manchester United would be a big coup for Leicester, with competition for homegrown talents having accelerated in more recent times due to Brexit.

The Verdict

Unfortunately for Grimsby, there is little that clubs of their size can do when these Premier League sides come sniffing around for young talent and as a result of this, they are seemingly resigned to losing the talented midfielder.

He will no doubt go on to bigger and better things away from Blundell Park, but surely he would be in with a better chance of making the breakthrough at first team level if he was to stay put.

The club may well receive compensation for the player when he does move on, but that is little consolation for all the work that has been put into the teenagers development over the last few years.

Sadly this is a common occurrence in the game at present and it happens far too often to clubs that are lower down the English football pyramid.