The Daily Mail: Manchester United are keeping a close eye on 16-year-old Saint centre-back Harley James, who could be snatched for £1 million ;[xueting]
2025-05-28
On May 28th Beijing time, according to the Daily Mail, Manchester United is closely monitoring Southampton's 16-year-old center-back Harley James and is interested in signing him with a compensation of approximately one million pounds. This young player has only played two games for Southampton's U18 team so far, but has already attracted the attention of several top Premier League clubs.
Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham are also keeping an eye on this young defender, yet Manchester United holds the upper hand in this race.
Jason Wilcox, the current technical director of the Red Devils, previously worked at Southampton and is quite familiar with James' growth process. He may become a key factor in Manchester United's successful recruitment.
This is not the first time that Manchester United has seized the initiative in the youth training market. In January this year, they signed 16-year-old centre-back Harrison Haywin from Arsenal for a compensation fee of 1.5 million pounds. The latter had already made his first-team debut for the Gunners at that time. In contrast, Harley James has yet to step onto the first-team stage and has only played two games for Southampton's U18 in the Premier League.