Arsenal
Arsenal have overwhelmed Liverpool to the signing of Salford Metropolis starlet Will Wright, talkSPORT understands.
The 17-year-old striker will transfer to north London for a charge in extra of £200,000 with add-ons.
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Wright appeared to be certain for Liverpool, however the Premier League champions pulled out after Arsenal stepped up their pursuit.
The seize of the ahead has been partly pushed by academy supervisor Per Mertesacker’s venture to recruit elite younger expertise.
The ex-Gunners defender has his personal devoted funds to strengthen the membership’s youth set-up.
Wright made his senior debut for Salford Metropolis towards Pep Guardiola’s aspect within the 8-0 FA Cup defeat in January.
The ahead solely performed a couple of minutes of the Etihad drubbing, however his inclusion underlined the Class of ’92 hierarchy’s religion in him.
David Beckham and Neville at the moment are set to lose Wright of their first summer season since turning into the sole co-owners of the membership in Could.
Wright, who scored over 50 targets in any respect ranges for Salford final season, is likely one of the youngest gamers ever to debut for the League Two aspect.
He’s within the second yr of his scholarship, having been noticed taking part in for native sides Euxton Villa and Fylde solely two years in the past.
Since making his debut earlier this yr, the 6ft 3in teenager additionally featured in League Two matches towards Port Vale and Bradford.
Wright has continued to catch the attention in pre-season, scoring 4 targets in three pleasant appearances for Salford this month already.
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Manchester Metropolis, Brentford and Burnley have additionally been reported to have been monitoring his state of affairs, however Arsenal now received the race.
Wright is unlikely to be ushered straight into Mikel Arteta’s first workforce, with time in an elite academy focused to assist his improvement.
As an alternative, he’s anticipated to separate his soccer between Arsenal’s U-18s and U-21s subsequent season.
Wright will even be eligible to play within the UEFA Youth League for the Gunners subsequent season, as groups area U-19 groups.
His Salford exit will come as an enormous blow to Neville and Beckham’s plans for the membership, having launched 17 gamers on the finish of the season.
The duo beforehand held a ten per cent share within the membership alongside their ex-Manchester United teammates in Ryan Giggs, Phil Neville, Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt.
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Beckham was the final Class of ’92 star to purchase a stake within the membership, doing so in 2019 – 5 years after his friends clubbed collectively to purchase the membership.
Following earlier majority shareholder Peter Lim’s determination to depart in 2024, Beckham and Gary Neville have since assumed management, with their outdated teammates relinquishing their possession.
