Man Utd and Man City go head-to-head and ‘arrange transfer meetings’ | Football | sport

Manchester United may currently be miles away from their city neighbors on the pitch, but they are set to go to battle with them off the pitch. United coach Erik ten Hag was allowed to spend more than £170 million on new players this summer but appears to have not yet completed the rebuild of his squad.

Champions Manchester City are expected to eye new signings in January after players such as Rodri and Nathan Ake suffered potentially serious injuries.

But rather than compete for Europe’s top talent, the two rivals are keen to raid Championship side Swansea City to sign two rising stars.

According to the MirrorBoth clubs are pursuing highly-rated youth duo Harlan Perry and Brogan Popham. And representatives of both players are now due to meet with the Premier League giants to discuss a move.

North London teams Tottenham and Arsenal are also reportedly in the running. However, United and City appear to be the clear frontrunners with talks already scheduled.

Perry, 16, has represented Wales at numerous age levels and impressed in the Professional Development League last season. He is unable to sign a professional contract with his club until his 17th birthday in November and both United and City are now exploring the possibility of swooping in before he can pen a new contract.

Like Perry, Popham received an academy scholarship ahead of the 2024-25 season. The central defender is already 17 years old but has not yet signed a professional contract.

Swansea would be entitled to compensation if either star were to move, but now they are apparently at risk of losing their supposed future stars for a nominal fee. However, given the pair’s age, an immediate return to West Wales on a loan deal would also be a viable option for all parties.

And the former Premier League club are unable to negotiate from a position of strength given the financial constraints the club is currently suffering. American owners Jason Levien and Stephen Kaplan have long been criticized for a lack of investment, with the club losing numerous young players in recent years without adequately replacing them.

However, both Perry and Popham will be aware that history has not been particularly positive about the Swansea players who have moved to Manchester. In June 2019, highly-rated winger Daniel James moved to Old Trafford for £15 million but failed to establish himself under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and is now back in the second division with Leeds.

Other high-profile moves saw players such as Wilfred Bony and Scott Sinclair move to the Etihad. Both fought for playing time before soon moving on. Bony ended up back at Swansea via Stoke, while Sinclair revived his career in Scotland at Celtic.