There is a twist in the tale of Manchester United’s pursuit of Mouhamed Dabo after reports suggested the Red Devils were on the verge of signing the 17-year-old midfielder yesterday.
On Trial at Old Trafford
Dabo is captain of the Senegal U-17 team and considered one of his country’s standout prospects due to his tactical intelligence and ability to dictate matches from midfield.
The youngster recently spent a month training with Barcelona where he is said to have impressed the LaLiga champions.
But Dabo has been on trial at United in the past few weeks, with a report indicating he had blown Academy coaches away at Carrington with a well-rounded skillset.
The midfielder’s “clean tackling, vision, composure, ball control, leadership, relentless work, progressive passing, and pace control” had left a strong impression at Carrington.
This positivity led United to accelerate talks to sign the 17-year-old ahead of their Spanish rivals, with a deal said to be “very close” to completion, according to the report – but this seems to have jumped the gun.
A Twist in the Tale
The Manchester Evening News contends stories stating United are set to sign Dabo are “wide of the mark.”
“Manchester United are not expected to sign Senegalese midfielder Mouhamed Dabo,” the outlet reveals.
The report stresses it’s “not unusual” for the Red Devils to be used in transfer reports to give agents “leverage” in negotiations.
And that appears to have been the case with Dabo, despite the excitement the prospect of another starlet being added to the ranks at Old Trafford generated yesterday.
But one highly-rated youngster who is set to join United is 17-year-old midfielder Cristian Orozco.
The captain of the U-17 Colombian national team, drawing coincidental comparisons to Dabo, Orozco will join the Mancunian side next summer after he turns 18, as per FIFA regulations on international youth transfers.
Featured image Christopher Furlong via Getty Images
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Darragh Fox
Darragh is a writer for The Peoples Person who spent three years as a history graduate slowly realising football was by far the most interesting thing to write about.
