Sunderland leading the loan race for in-demand Man United academy star Joe Hugill – Man United News And Transfer News

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During the summer transfer window, Manchester United tried to sell multiple first-team stars in a bid to raise capital for further reinforcements.

However, that did not go as planned and instead, they were forced to sell academy starlets who were not in manager Erik ten Hag’s immediate plans going forward.

Stars such as Zidane Iqbal, Charlie Savage, Matej Kovar, Anthony Elanga, and Marc Jurado just to name a few were among those to leave the club permanently.

Hugill needs first-team football

Several also left on loan including promising academy striker Charlie McNeill while quite a few are champing at the bit to experience regular first-team football.

The Peoples Person had reported about Isak Hansen-Aarøen looking at a loan exit in January and now it seems yet another academy prodigy is set to follow suit.

Joe Hugill, who has definitely outgrown age-group level football, is being eyed by former club Sunderland for a January loan spell.

The 6ft 2in striker’s remarkable goalscoring exploits for Sunderland’s academy team, including him playing for their U23s at the age of 16, prompted United to go after him in the first place.

He had reportedly attracted interest from Arsenal, Tottenham, Wolves and Leeds before securing a move to Old Trafford.

This news comes from The Sun journalist Alan Nixon who wrote on his Patreon account and also mentioned that the move will not be straightforward due to interest from several other EFL clubs.

The report mentioned that other clubs are more in need of a target man than the team from Tyne and Wear but due to the player’s connection with Sunderland, a move there is more likely.

Sunderland and others targeting Hugill loan

There was plenty of interest in the 19-year-old during the summer as well, but with McNeill already going out, the club decided to keep Hugill for the time being.

He was on the scoresheet for United in their first pre-season game against Leeds United but is yet to make a first-team appearance.

Hugill has been prolific for the academy, scoring 46 goals for United’s various age group teams since his €330k move from the Black Cats back in 2020.

He spent time out on loan at National League club Altrincham for half a season earlier this year and a move to a Championship club could be just the step required for the prolific striker to show his mettle.