Manchester United are back at it again. The club is trying to pull two more young midfielders out of Manchester City’s academy, and it’s starting to look like a habit.
According to the Daily Mail, United have their eyes on 16-year-olds Xavier Parker and Karim Cassim. Both players have already represented England at youth level. Both are currently in City’s system. And both are now on United’s radar as Jason Wilcox, United’s director of football, leans hard on the connections he built during more than a decade at City.
Wilcox spent years climbing the ranks at the Etihad before a stint at Southampton and then crossing town to Old Trafford in 2024. He’s been aggressive about tapping his old network ever since. This isn’t the first time he’s tried this either. United already signed Darren Fletcher’s twin sons, Jack and Tyler, from City in 2023 for a fee of 1.25 million pounds. That deal probably didn’t go over great in the blue half of Manchester.
Who are these kids?
Xavier Parker is an attack-minded midfielder who joined City from West Ham in 2024. He was playing for the Under-18s at 15 years old. Last season he had a hand in 10 goals over 13 U18 Premier League appearances. Liverpool are also reportedly keeping tabs on him.
Karim Cassim is more of a central midfielder. He’s an England U-17 international and played 10 matches for City’s Under-18s last season. Not as flashy on the stat sheet maybe, but clearly someone United’s scouting department thinks is worth the headache of another cross-city negotiation.
The noise from the other side of Manchester is going to get louder if this goes through. City don’t love losing homegrown talent to their neighbors. United don’t seem to care.
First-team midfield remains the priority
While all this academy poaching is happening, United are also trying to fix their actual first-team midfield. Funny enough, one of their top targets came through City’s system too.
Felix Nmecha, now at Borussia Dortmund after a stop at Wolfsburg, is high on United’s list. The 25-year-old Germany international made three appearances for City before leaving in 2021. He’s having a strong World Cup campaign in North America right now.
There’s just one problem. Dortmund don’t want to sell and they’re asking for around 120 million euros (about 104 million pounds). That’s a lot for a player who barely played for City years ago. But if United are serious about upgrading their midfield, they may have to pay it.
For now, the club is working both angles. Trying to steal two teenagers from City’s academy while chasing a former City kid who costs nine figures. If even half of this works out, the dynamic between these two clubs gets even more interesting.
Leave a Comment