Manchester United set to sign Samuel Lusale from Crystal Palace | OneFootball

Manchester United have reached a “full agreement” to sign highly-rated youngster Samuel Lusale from Crystal Palace, according to a well-placed academy source.

MUFC_Youth reveals on X (formerly known as Twitter) United have secured Lusale’s signature and the 16-year-old will swap London for Manchester as he approaches a crucial stage of his career.

Tweet: “Manchester United have reached a full agreement to sign Samuel Lusale from Crystal Palace after the winger rejected a scholarship offer. Another top addition secured.”

This has been confirmed by transfer guru Fabrizio Romano.

Widely considered one of the most exciting talents in his age group within English youth football, Lusale is a tricky winger capable of playing right across the forward line.

The 16-year-old has spent the last three seasons at Selhurst Park, playing for the U-16 and U-18 Crystal Palace teams.

He has also represented Slovakia at the U-17 European Championship this summer in Cyprus. In the build-up to the tournament, ESPN highlighted Lusale as the ‘Player to Watch’ from the Slovakian squad, praising his “exceptional acceleration, relentless enthusiasm to beat defenders, and clever movement in the final third”.

United were first linked with a move for the winger this summer as part of a broader strategy to secure the ‘best-in-class’ from Britain’s academy system, given the regulations imposed by Brexit have prevented English sides from signing players under the age of 18 from oversees clubs.

While previously Old Trafford scouts were able to secure the services of players such as Alejandro Garnacho, Willy Kambwala and Hannibal Mejbri, to name but a few, they will instead be focusing on domestic talents moving forward.

INEOS, who gained full control over the sporting operation at United in February, appear extremely committed to buttressing the club’s academy as strongly as the senior team.

The news of Lusale’s signing came directly after Fabrizio Romano revealed the club had agreed a deal to sign Arsenal youngster Chido Obi-Martin, the 16-year-old striking sensation who scored 29 goals in just 17 games for the Gunners’ U-18 side last season.

The talented pair join Silva Mexes Tyler-Earnshaw (Ipswich Town)  and James Overy (Perth Glory) as youngsters to have already joined the ranks at Old Trafford, with Camron Mpofu (Reading) also “expected to sign” this summer.

With United hoping to potentially agree blockbuster deals for Matthijs de Ligt and Manuel Ugarte this week on the senior level, it is extremely positive that INEOS are continuing to place as much emphasis on the future of the club’s much-heralded academy as they are the current first-team.

Want to be the first to hear breaking Man United news? For carefully selected, crucial updates, join our WhatsApp channel: https://bit.ly/United-Breaking-News.