Manchester United are looking to rival Manchester City’s interest in signing 16-year-old sensation Eliot Matazo from RSC Anderlecht. The holding midfielder has revealed his intentions to leave the Belgium outfit and is not interested in signing his first professional contract with them.
This allows United and any other club for that matter to potentially acquire his services for free with the slight possibility of having to pay Anderlecht a meagre compensation fee.
Matazo has been capped at international level 8 times for the Belgium U16 side and has also been handed over the captain’s armband – a clear indication of leadership abilities which can be developed for the future.
The Belgian’s agent, Christophe Henrotay currently also manages the careers of Chelsea shot-stopper, Thibaut Courtois and Atletico Madrid winger, Yannick Carrasco. Even he was taken back by Matazo’s decision to leave as he said, “It’s very bizarre that the boy is leaving now. Before, he did not want anything else than to sign with Anderlecht.”
It this a hoax to stop heavy interests from pestering with the player’s development or is the agent trying to play out a favourable scenario which would see the teenager bag a huge deal similar to that of Martin Odegaard in Real Madrid?
If the recently turned, 16-year-old does make the switch to Old Trafford, he will be at home alongside the likes of Angel Gomes and Tahith Chong, who just got promoted to the U23 side. Mourinho is already seen to be providing Scott McTominay with an opportunity to display his talents for the senior team.
After facing heavy criticism for not promoting youngsters, Jose Mourinho has seemed to have taken a closer look at the club’s academy structure. The Red Devils successfully bolstered the youth ranks by signing Aliou Traore from Paris Saint-Germain, Di’Shon Bernard from Chelsea and Arnau Puigmal from Espanyol last summer. With Nicky Butt heading the U18 United side, the club is currently at the top of the youth league and will be greatly benefitted by the arrival of a young prodigy like Matazo.
The entire legacy left behind by Alex Ferguson at Manchester United is centred around promoting youngsters and developing them into stars. Even when the club has seen three different personas take the managerial seat, they have not neglected the ideology. United’s academy players played twice as many minutes than any other Premier League side including Mauricio Pochettino’s Tottenham Hotspur, who just registered 21,668 minutes in the league.
The club has not shied away from big money transfers either judging by the recent arrival of Alexis Sanchez from Arsenal which is costing the club 14m per year. Ed Woodward has complied to all of Jose Mourinho’s request in order to resurrect the club to title-winning status.
They might not be able to win the league this season but are still contending and are well poised to take on Sevilla in the second leg of the round of 16 Champions League tie. Maybe someday Matazo will be able to emulate the superstar status of his compatriot, Maroune Fellaini in a United jersey, if not better.
