Manchester United Academy Prospects Scanlon and Ogunneye in Talks with Arsenal

Manchester United’s academy is bracing for change, with two of its more seasoned prospects edging towards the exit – and into the orbit of a direct Premier League rival.

James Scanlon and Habeeb Ogunneye, both on the fringes of senior football last season, are in talks over moves to Arsenal. Scanlon, a winger, and Ogunneye, a full-back, each had brief loan spells in League Two last term, at Swindon Town and Newport County respectively. The appearances were limited, but not the belief in their potential. At 19 and 20, the view inside the game is that there is still plenty of development left in both.

Their situations underline a clear shift. Neither Scanlon nor Ogunneye featured in Michael Carrick’s pre-season plans, even as United leaned heavily on youth for their opening summer fixture. Fifteen academy players were named in the 25-man squad that faced Wrexham in Helsinki on 18 July. Neither of the two under discussion made that cut.

Ogunneye did see some action later in the summer, starting for United’s Under-21s in a pre-season game against Altrincham on 31 July. Scanlon, by contrast, sat that one out with a minor injury. His absence was notable given his recent trajectory: 24 caps already for Gibraltar and a role in United’s Premier League 2 play-off final defeat to Brighton in May.

The sense around Carrington is that they will not be the only ones on the move. Other players with substantial Under-21 experience, many of whom have already sampled loan football away from Old Trafford, are expected to assess their options before the transfer window closes on 1 September.

United’s academy has long been a pathway. This summer, for some of its older prospects, that pathway may now run straight through the doors of their rivals.