David Beckham and Gary Neville-owned Salford City are set to lose promising youngster Will Wright to Liverpool.
That’s according to a report from journalists Ben Jacobs and Alex Crook, posted on the latter’s X account on Wednesday (16 July) morning.
Losing a talented young player to a team higher in the pyramid does, of course, always sting a little, but it will come with added pain that the United-linked duo are losing Wright to one of their former club’s historic rivals.
The case for the Ammies to hold Wright was looking difficult in any case, however, with multiple Premier League clubs thought to have been in the race to sign him.
Salford City to lose talented youngster to Liverpool
Gary Neville and David Beckham Salford City (1)
Liverpool are reportedly closing in on the signing of youngster Wright, who made his professional debut for Salford last season.
It’s believed the Reds are to pay a six-figure fee to take him to Merseyside, where it seems likely he’ll go into the academy setup due to being still only 17 years old.
Salford has long been associated with United’s famous Class of ’92, the young squad that came through the ranks at Carrington together before going on to win countless trophies with the Red Devils senior squad.
Nicky Butt, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Phil Neville were all involved along with Gary Neville and David Beckham in the initial takeover in 2014, but the ownership went through a change earlier this year which saw the latter pair front a consortium in a fresh takeover.
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Teenage sensation Wright has impressed already
Wright broke through into the first team at Salford last season despite yet to reach adulthood.
He made two League Two appearances, had a short FA Cup cameo and was handed one EFL Trophy outing.
The striker was unable to net a goal for the senior side, but merely receiving the minutes he did last season, taking into account his age, is a strong signal of just how talented Wright is perceived to be.
Wright's experience with Salford, as per Transfermarkt
Competition
League Two
EFL Trophy
FA Cup
He has carried that momentum through into pre-season, where with his goal in a friendly against York City coming as his fourth in the space of a week as the fourth-tier outfit prepare for the season ahead.
Despite first-team football seemingly already being within reach at the Peninsula Stadium, the allure of an elite Premier League setup has proved justifiably too good to turn down.
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Class of ’92 were never likely to be happy with Wright’s destination
The United legends losing one of their top prospects will of course be a talking point, but wherever Wright ended up, Neville and Beckham were never likely to be best pleased.
Aside from Liverpool, a Daily Mail report claims that the other two interest clubs were Manchester City and Arsenal, the former an obvious rival for geographical reasons and the latter another bitter foe from battles in the Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger era.
The report goes on to add that Liverpool’s offer is thought to be in the region of £100k, with a further £200k included in the deal in add-ons.
Neville and Beckham would never chose to lose one of their brightest sparks to clubs they hold no love for, but they will no doubt be reasonable enough to understand the opportunity the move presents for Wright.