Manchester United may have just signed the new Luke Shaw

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Manchester United appear to have pulled off a coup by winning the race to England youth international Harry Amass.

If there is one area where Manchester United have shown smartness in recent years, it is the recruitment in the youth market.

In 2020 the club swooped on Atletico Madrid to sign Alejandro Garnacho for a fee The Metro reported cost just £300,000.

Alvaro Fernandez, Marc Jurado, Isak Hansen-Aaroen and Hannibal Mejbri may yet follow Garnacho into the first team. Not all of them can make it, but there is real talent in the club’s academy.

READ: Confirmed Manchester United transfers in, out, loans, releases, youth for 2023/24

Harry Amass the latest to join

The difference between now and 2020 is that Manchester United’s youth recruitment has to be more UK focused, due to Brexit.

With a smaller pool of players and more intense competition from other Premier League clubs all looking in the same areas, it has become a little tougher. Joining United can be both a blessing and a curse for youth recruitment, due to the high standards required to stand out, and then make the leap to the first team.

The club’s academy talent is flourishing, with 17-year-old Kobbie Mainoo making his first team debut last season.

There is a conveyor belt of talent coming through, with Sam Mather, Dan Gore, Maxi Oyedele and Radek Vitek among those who aim to make an impression.

United have sought to add quality to the ranks selectively, with Elyh Harrison a quality addition to the goalkeeper department last year signed from Stevenage, while winger Ethan Ennis was lured away from Liverpool.

Earlier this year United signed Gabriele Biancheri from Cardiff City, who quickly scored on his under-18s debut.

The latest to join is Watford teenager Harry Amass. He is set to sign a four-year deal, reports Fabrizio Romano.

The new Luke Shaw

Harry Amass is a left-back, and the 16-year-old is at the right club to learn from England’s top player at the position, Luke Shaw.

Shaw was 18 when Manchester United paid approximately £30 million to sign him, after bursting onto the scene at Southampton.

United hope to have taken a shortcut with this move for Amass, signing a star of the future on the cheap, before he makes it big.

Amass has represented England at under-15s and under-16s level and even made the bench for Watford’s first team earlier this season.

Not every young player Manchester United sign will make it big, that’s the nature of youth development. But that never means you should stop trying.

Amass is signing for the right club, and should look at the way Shaw has overcome the challenges he has faced, injuries, falling out of managerial favour, and is still going strong. Having the same mindset is going to be just as crucial as talent itself.