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Manchester United have paid compensation in the six figure range to snap up a trio of talents from Doncaster Rovers.
United have wasted no time tying the new 14 year olds down with the three of them already being offered scholarships.
It is believed that several Premier League clubs were chasing the youngsters but United’s allure prevailed.
United aren’t the only ones happy with the exchange as League Two side Doncaster Rovers have told the Doncaster Free Press that they will “benefit financially to a significant extent should those players sold progress in the game as we hope they will.”
The three players joined United in the past year with midfielder Jariah Shah and winger Neithan Neithan making the move in April of last year, and Zac Watson joining them in September.
The trio came through the same team at Doncaster and Jariah’s father, Tak Shah, says “it was a fantastic team, they were very good. I’m really, really proud of all of them.”
Since making the move to Manchester, the young players have been exposed to the chance of competing regularly with some of the biggest clubs in the world.
“Every week they are playing against the best players in the world and matching them,” said Tak Shah, a former semi-professional who played for Armthorpe Welfare and spent some time in Australia, where his son was born.
Shah added that “Zac attended an England under-15 camp in December, Jariyah has been chosen to play against Real Madrid and Barcelona next month.”
With a recent spate of 15 year old’s getting their chance in Travis Binnion’s young u18s side, the Doncaster trio will be looking to follow that progression and work their way up the age groups.
But with Shah’s own footballing background, he recognizes the challenges ahead for his son and teammates noting that “it’s definitely some life but I will say to anybody who thinks it easy, it’s far from it.”
“I can see why now why a small number of people make it. It’s not down to talent, it’s down to hard work.”
The road ahead is narrow and tough for all youngsters coming through academy football with Premier League data showing only 30% of players at Category One academies earn professional contracts and only 10% ever make more than 20 appearances in the top four tiers of English football.
