Man Utd to complete first summer transfer after beat West Ham & Everton to deal

Manchester United are reportedly on the brink of securing a deal for young talent James Overy, who has been playing non-league football in Devon.

The 16-year-old, who is eligible to play for both Australia and England, left Australian team Perth Glory last year when his family moved to England.

Since then, he's been playing for Newton Abbot Spurs' first team, but he has attracted Premier League attention after impressing in a pre-season friendly for Perth Glory against West Ham when he was just 15. According to the Manchester Evening News, United have proposed a scholarship deal to Overy and are 'hopeful' that he will choose to join their academy.

It's anticipated that Overy will accept the offer and make the move from Devon to Manchester, despite interest from other Premier League clubs such as West Ham, Everton and Leicester.

United's academy is renowned for its excellence, with youth scouts constantly on the lookout for young players with the potential to break into the first team.

These scholarship deals are extended to promising young players and represent a significant step towards potentially being offered a professional contract, which can be signed at 17.

Manchester United's junior team have been on a roll this season, clinching a treble - two of them coming at the expense of Manchester City. In light of these successes, it's likely that Overy could play within this U18's dominant side in the 2024/25 season.

The academy has made quite a rebound after a period of not performing up to standard. A pivotal change came with Nick Cox taking up the mantle of Head of Academy in December 2019.

During a chat with the MEN earlier this month, Cox detailed the secret behind their impressive turnaround. "I think it's really simple," he shared.

"It's about having good players, so get your recruitment right, having good coaches that know the game and their job, and the wider staff as well who deeply care about young people."

"And then it's alignment across all of the staff, so making sure we're connected as a group throughout the age groups and up into the senior side with the first-team staff as well."

Acknowledging the contributions of others, Cox added: "Darren Fletcher was here tonight and he's played as much of a part in developing those players as anybody. Travis Binnion I give a lot of credit to because he's really the architect of our programme for our eldest age groups and you've seen Adam Lawrence with this particular group (U18s)."