Manchester United are keen on France Under-18 captain Joachim Kayi Sanda | OneFootball

Manchester United are keen on the French under-18 captain, Joachim Kayi Sanda.

The Red Devils have been linked to numerous young defenders as of late, after Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS promised there would be a transfer pivot towards signing the next stars rather than ready-made players.

The Red Devils are clearly looking to upgrade their defensive department with numerous links to more established centre backs such as Jarrad Branthwaite, Gleison Bremer and Jean-Clair Tobido.

However, recent reports assert that the club could also be looking at bringing in a younger option as they have been heavily linked to 18-year-old Argentine, Aaron Anselmino.

It has even been suggested the club could use its newfound links with Nice to loan the defender to France to get himself acclimatised to European football.

It is within this context that the Old Trafford outfit have now been linked to Valenciennes defender, Sanda.

According to HITC, “Premier League giants Arsenal, Manchester United and Newcastle are keen on” the youngster.

The website states that a plethora of other clubs such as Paris Saint-Germain, Southampton, Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Dortmund along with United are “in hot pursuit of a player who shone during the recent Under-17 World Cup”.

Despite playing in the second division in France, the 17 year old is seen as “one of the most coveted young defenders in Europe”.

ESPN have also lavished praise on the youngster describing his skillset as “calm, dominating, physically imposing, excellent in the air and with a safe passing game”.

Sanda has already played 17 times this season for Valenciennes and is clearly highly thought of in his homeland as he is captain of the French under-18 side despite only being capped four times. (All statistics according to transfermarkt.com)

It seems unlikely that the player would be able to come in and contribute straight away at a club like United with only a handful of second division games under his belt but perhaps the club would see fit to loan the player.

What is exciting is that United, inspired by INEOS, seem keen on bringing in top young talents that they can mould into stars of the future.