Manchester United are chasing Reading’s teenage keeper Coniah Boyce-Clarke.
The hot prospect was watched by scouts this week as he was the hero for England’s under-17s in a penalty shoot-out in the Syrenka Cup Final with Poland.
Boyce-Clarke, 16, has already agreed a new contract with Reading but that has not put off United who have been watching developments closely since he played against them at under-23 level when he was still 15.
United keeper coach Richard Hartis also knows Boyce-Clarke having worked at the Football Association through the England age groups.
Boyce-Clarke has already played regularly for Reading’s under-23s side but they now face a struggle to keep him.
Reading will be keen to give Boyce-Clarke a pathway into the first team to let him see his development as a way of fending off the big guns.