Manchester United agree deal for Espanyol hot-shot

One of the main criticisms levelled at Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho, wherever he goes, is that he doesn’t exactly have the penchant for developing players through the youth ranks and would rather make big money signings instead.

Well, that could all be about to change after reports from Spanish newspaper Sport (via Sport Witness) claimed that the Portuguese has agreed a deal with Espanyol to sign highly rated youngster Arnau Puigmal.

The 16-year-old academy midfielder is one of the top prospects at the Catalan club, having been described as a ‘pearl’ by Sport in their piece on the United move.

Siiii joder!!! Campeones del @micfootball en una final muy competida. Contento por ayudar al equipo con un gol y por recibir el MVP del torneo. Dar las gracias a mis compañeros, sin vosotros esto no podria haber sido posible!!

A post shared by Arnau Puigmal Martinez (@arniipuxxii8) on Apr 16, 2017 at 6:26am PDT

The red half of Manchester are supposedly looking to take a leaf out of the book of their noisy neighbours, Manchester City, who have ploughed hundreds of millions into their academy side in recent years.

Puigmal, who has scored five goals for the development side this season, is a versatile goalscoring midfielder with strength on his side, much like summer signing Paul Pogba.