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Manchester United sign 16-year-old Elyh Harrison from Stevenage
Manchester United have signed Stevenage’s promising teenage goalkeeper Elyh Harrison to join up with their Under-18s and Under-21s side.
The Sky Bet League Two club confirmed the news on Monday 27 June as the 16-year-old joins the Red Devils for just a compensation fee having not signed professional terms at the Lamex Stadium.
Boro have not disclosed the fee that has been paid by United but chairman Phil Wallace is keen to see it used to help improve their facilities.
Our very best wishes go to Elyh, and we will follow his career with interest,” he said. “This is the fourth young player in four years that has been signed from Stevenage’s Academy to a Premier League club”.
“We have negotiated all of these transfers outside of the Elite Player Performance Plan (EPPP) system and therefore delivers significant funding to the Club, alongside a continued financial interest in their success, justifying our huge investment in the Academy”.
“We will continue to upgrade our excellent facilities and invest in the infrastructure that develops young players capable of playing at the highest level of football.”
Future
Let’s not make any mistake here, Harrison is not going to be challenging David De Gea for the number one jersey at Old Trafford any time soon.
Even Dean Henderson hasn’t been able to do that but there is clearly a belief at Carrington that the 16-year-old could be a talent who has the ability to one day reach that kind of level.
United are in need of some new goalkeepers within the academy after Paul Woolston was forced to retire through injury at just 23 years of age and they’ve plumped for Harrison to be their new man.
He could arguably be classified as Erik Ten Hag’s first signing at Old Trafford too even though he won’t be needed by the senior team anytime soon bar a huge injury crisis.
Manchester United need more additions both in the academy and at first-team level but the season is rapidly approaching and they can’t hang around for much longer without taking action.
In other Manchester United news, one of their more experienced academy players has penned a new contract extension at Old Trafford.