Well this came completely out of left field. According to TZ, Bayern Munich are in the running to sign 16-year old Mipo Odubeko after the youngster turned down the chance to sign a new contract with his parent club Manchester United. An Irish youth international, Odubeko is considered an extremely promising prospect for the future.
According to the report, Odubeko is coveted by a number of European clubs, including the likes of Feyenrood Rotterdam, Burnley, Genoa, and Newcastle — however Bayern Munich seem to be the only real “superclub” in the race.
The youngster is said to be extremely talented, having scored 35 goals at the youth level for United last season, but he declined to renew his contract in order to develop elsewhere. Therefore, Bayern don’t need a transfer fee to sign him, they just need to convince the player that his future lies in Germany.
While we have yet to see any other reports corroborating TZ’s version of the news, Bayern’s pursuit of Odubeko falls in line with recent movements in the youth sector. Recently, it has been club policy to pick up young talents from far afield and try to develop them into the next big thing — players like Chris Richards and Wooyeong Jeong are examples of this kind of transfer policy.
Odubeko could become the latest player to join the fray, but it will be difficult to get him to sign given the competition from smaller but more youth-friendly clubs. Hopefully, if he’s as good as the “wonderkid” moniker suggests, Bayern land him and keep building toward a more academy-oriented future.