
EPL Index
·1 May 2025
Man United set to confirm 18-year-old striker as first summer signing

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Yahoo sportsEPL Index
·1 May 2025
Manchester United are poised to sign French forward Enzo Kana-Biyik on a free transfer, according to MEN, in a move that underlines the club’s renewed focus on long-term planning and youth development.
The 18-year-old, whose contract with Le Havre expires this summer, will travel to Manchester to finalise his switch. Though he’s yet to make his senior debut, Kana-Biyik has impressed with nine goals in 15 games at Under-19 level and has trained regularly with the Ligue 1 side’s first team.
Photo Football Talk
This isn’t just another teenage signing. Kana-Biyik comes from a club renowned for its academy, one that previously produced Paul Pogba, Dimitri Payet, Riyad Mahrez and Steve Mandanda. He joins a United system increasingly attuned to linguistic and cultural adaptation: “United’s academy staff have taken French lessons to communicate with Sekou Kone,” and those efforts will now benefit Kana-Biyik too.
Photo: IMAGO
It is anticipated the young forward will initially be loaned to FC Lausanne-Sport, the Ineos-owned Swiss club, part of a broader strategic network intended to fast-track development under familiar guidance.
United aren’t just signing players. They’re building a system. A language. A future.
Yes, he’s 18. Yes, he hasn’t played a senior game. But this is exactly the sort of move Manchester United should be making. Enzo Kana-Biyik is part of a much bigger picture — one that finally suggests they’re planning beyond the next window and to the future.
The Le Havre academy is no joke. It’s the gold mine of European football — Pogba, Payet, Mahrez, Mandanda. Now Kana-Biyik steps into that lineage, and into United’s future. It’s also refreshing to see how well-prepared the club seems culturally. Taking French lessons to better integrate players like Sekou Kone and Kana-Biyik? That’s not just smart — it’s progressive.
Loaning him to FC Lausanne-Sport makes sense too. It’s not a dead-end loan; it’s part of a joined-up Ineos model. He’ll be nurtured, watched, and shaped in the United way.
Yes fans may not see Kana-Biyik at Old Trafford next season, but this is what forward-thinking recruitment looks like. If he’s anything close to the talent the stats suggest, they’ve got something exciting brewing in the academy pipeline.