Manchester United Hoover Up Players After Huddersfield Cut Their Youth Academy

Manchester United have signed five youth prospects who were released from Huddersfield after the Yorkshire side downgraded their academy system. 

United have not wasted any time in beating their local rivals to the signatures of some of the players who were let go by the Terriers earlier this month.

According to reports in The Sun, Huddersfield decided to reduce their academy from a category two to a category four status in an attempt to streamline their youth system. Meaning the newly promoted Premier League side have completely scraped the under-19 and under-16 teams.

This decision saves Huddersfield £500k-a-year, which the club insist they will re-invest in the running costs of the under-18 and under-23 squads. However, this decision also meant a number of players were available to sign on a free and United quickly offered trial periods to 15 youngsters.

Manchester City, Liverpool and Everton were also looking to take advantage of this situation, but were not as pro-active as Manchester United who had put together a programme of trials and training games. 

After a two-week process overseen by United's academy chief Nicky Butt, the club have signed five out of the 15 being trialled.