Manchester United wonderkid signing confirmed as young star handed iconic shirt number

Manchester United have signed Camron Mpofu from Reading, the player has confirmed on social media.

The 15-year-old had been monitored by United for some time and has now become the latest name to join the club's academy. Silva Mexes, the son of former Cardiff City and West Brom striker Rob Earnshaw, has already joined from Ipswich and Australian James Overy has also arrived.

Mpofu has represented Scotland and England at youth international level and is set to join United's under-16s set-up. The forward made his debut for Scotland under-15s against Spain in April. Mpofu was one of only three squad inclusions from English club academies.

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The youngster posted a picture of him holding the United shirt with his name and the number nine on Instagram to confirm the news. He wrote: "I’m proud to officially announce my signing for Manchester United. I’d like to thank everyone who has helped me on this journey so far, especially my family, the coaches and staff Reading FC. The hard work continues."

His father then replied, saying: "Go crush it young king. Beyond proud of you. We love you."

The number nine shirt has previously been worn by the likes of Sir Bobby Charlton, Andy Cole, Dimitar Berbatov and Zlatan Ibrahimovic for the first team at United - having recently been vacated by Anthony Martial following his departure upon the expiration of his contract this summer.

English clubs' recruitment at academy level is restricted as Brexit regulations prohibit them from signing overseas players under the age of 18. United bought Alejandro Garnacho, Willy Kambwala, Alvaro Fernandez and Marc Jurado from overseas clubs in the final window in 2020 but they have since had to focus on domestic recruits.

United continue to promote top young talent, with over 250 academy players brought into the first team and at least one Academy graduate being named in every matchday squad for over 85 years now.