Amid all the excitement surrounding Manchester United’s more high-profile signings of the summer window, the Premier League giants are not only focused on the present.
There has been a concerted effort to put the building blocks in place for a brighter future too, as emphasised by the sheer number of exciting teenage talents who can now call Carrington home.
Samuel Lusale joins from Crystal Palace, Manchester United snapping up the twinkle-toed winger reportedly from under the noses of Borussia Dortmund, Arsenal and Chelsea.
Sekou Kone, one of the brightest young midfielders to emerge out of Africa in recent times, officially became a Man United player last week.
Chido Obi Martin might have to wait before he can be pictured in a Red Devils shirt, but it seems only a matter of time before the most prolific under 18 striker in England is joining forces with Kone and Lusale.
Manchester United sign Hubert Graczyk after Arsenal exit
Hubert Graczyk will maybe not make quite so many headlines as Kone or Martin. Especially after the latter scored a quite staggering 28 goals in the final nine Premier League Under 18 matches of 2023/24.
But with Graczyk also opting to join from Arsenal – his Gunners deal expired on July 1st – an Ineos-led Man United side are clearly a real force to be reckoned with these days when it comes to the ambition and the ferocity of their recruitment at youth-team level.
Graczyk confirmed, via his official Instagram account, that he is now a Man United player.
He wrote: “Buzzing to have signed for this massive club, let’s get to work.”
Hopefully, it won’t be long before another former Arsenal youngster in Chido Obi-Martin is welcoming himself to the Red Devils roster too.
Graczyk, 21 years of age, is likely to play for Man United’s Under 21 side in Premier League 2 this season. The Pole had a spell on loan at Slough Town in non-league last term, though he returned to North London ahead of schedule due to a lack of game time.
On deadline day, Graczyk was named on the Manchester United Under 21 bench in a 3-1 win at Blackburn, indicating a deal was in the pipeline.
Goalkeeper should be joined by Chido Obi-Martin
At 6ft 1ins, Graczyk accepts that he is not the tallest of shot-stoppers. But, speaking to the official Arsenal website back in January 2023, Graczyk was confident that he could only iron out the weaknesses in his game with further training and a rock-solid self-confidence.
“What I’m particularly working on at the moment is dealing with crosses. That’s a big one for me. I’m not the biggest goalkeeper, I’m 6ft 1in which is on the smaller side for a keeper,” explained Graczyk, frequently highly vocal presence on the pitch.
“(The coaches) have told me to bold, go for it and they are always pushing me to go higher and higher.
“There were some World Cup matches on while we were away, and I obviously watched them looking mainly at the keepers. Wojciech Szczesny did really well for Poland. He’s one I always look to anyway. My dad’s a big Arsenal fan, all my family are Arsenal fans, I grew up an Arsenal fan, so it was always Wojciech and Lukasz Fabianski I looked at.
“Another ex-Arsenal keeper, Emi Martinez, did well for Argentina too. I was impressed with the Croatian keeper (Dominik Livakovic), Guillermo Ochoa for Mexico as well, of course – he always turns up for the World Cup!”
- READ MORE: Manchester United confirmed signings, transfers in, out, loan exits, releases for 2024/25
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