Manchester United are reportedly hoping Shola Shoretire will change his mind and sign a new contract soon despite currently looking like closing in on a move away from Old Trafford on a free transfer.
The 20-year-old has long been rated very highly at Man Utd after rising up through the club’s academy, but it could now be that he’ll choose to continue his career elsewhere after failing to break into the first-team in recent times.
According to Manchester World, there is now a growing sense that Shoretire will leave United at the end of his current contract at the end of this month, though some inside the club still hope they can persuade him to stay and agree to a new deal.
The report states that Shoretire seems to be keen to keep his options open, and one imagines there’ll surely be a fair amount of interest in the talented young midfielder, who could go on to have a fine career in the Premier League if given the chance.
Shoretire transfer: Where next for the Man United wonderkid?
We’ve often seen academy players look destined for big things in their early years, only to fizzle out later as they couldn’t quite make that step up to senior football, and it must be very hard for clubs to know who’s going to make it and who isn’t.
Ravel Morrison was once considered a generational talent in his early days in the United youth set-up, but off-the-pitch problems derailed his promising career, whereas others who perhaps had less ability but a better attitude, such as Marcus Rashford, Jesse Lingard and Scott McTominay, ended up becoming key players at first-team level.
Shoretire still hasn’t had much of a chance to prove himself, and sometimes you just need a bit of luck to help you make that first step, with Rashford notably grabbing his opportunity with both hands in 2015/16 when barely anyone had heard of him until a long lost of injuries allowed him a chance to play in the Europa League, and he never looked back.