Man City and Man Utd scouting Sunderland teenager tipped to follow in Jordan Pickford’s footsteps

Manchester City and Manchester United are monitoring highly-rated Sunderland goalkeeper Matthew Young, the 16-year-old being tipped to follow in the footsteps of former Black Cat Jordan Pickford and one day play for England.

Young is just 16 but has been a regular for Sunderland’s Under-18s this season and made an impressive first-team debut in the club’s pre-season tour of the US.

A confident, agile goalkeeper who is good with his feet, Sunderland have high hopes for Young and have mapped out a career path for the teenager.

But i understands that his stock is rising in the scouting world, with City’s talent spotters regularly watching him in action for the club’s U18 side this season. i has been told he is also on the FA’s radar and an England age group call-up is expected.

Young snubbed interest from Wolves in the summer to sign a two-year scholarship contract at the Stadium of Light along with England U17 international Chris Rigg as Sunderland look to protect their academy “crown jewels”.

The club believe their new approach of promoting from within will insulate them from interest from elsewhere but the number of scouts watching their U18 and U23 sides is understood to be rising. And they still remain vulnerable to Premier League clubs poaching their best assets, with 15-year-old ‘keeper Toby Bell leaving for Chelsea over the summer.

These are fascinating days for Sunderland, whose wholesale commitment to playing and developing talented young players makes them unique in the upper echelons of the EFL. While other clubs talk a good game about promoting young players, Sunderland are actually prepared to offer a practical pathway to the first team.

“Players and agents are starting to take notice,” one recruitment executive told i recently. Under Tony Mowbray they are fourth in the Championship and play an exciting brand of football, with a recruitment model that relies on player trading but is gradually shifting to look at some of the best young prospects in Europe.

At the heart of it is keeping hold of some of their potential homegrown stars such as Young. Just last month he was described by director of football Kristjaan Speakman as part of a group who are the “future of Sunderland”.

“We have to protect that future. The football club and the ownership have invested heavily to ensure our academy programme is optimised at the highest possible level,” he said.

Sunderland’s reputation for developing players has also opened up potential loan routes for the club. It is understood that the club have forged a good relationship with United and would be interested in Amad Diallo if he is made available for loan in January.

The Ivorian is currently working his way back to fitness after a knee injury suffered in pre-season.