While Man United have always been famous for their willingness to get the younger players into the first team, it does look like they are looking to make big money signings instead of using the youngsters ahead of next season.
When you couple that with the fact that the gap between the first team and the youth team is wider than ever, it’s not surprising to see younger players leaving big clubs at a young age in search of regular football.
The latest is Deji Sotona who was clearly highly rated at Old Trafford and had an offer of a new contract on the table, but he’s decided he wants to play first team football and he’s now left the club:
Deji Sotona has left #MUFC after turning down a new deal. A three-year pro contract was on table but the 17-year-old's desire for first-team football & wages United were not willing to pay led to exit. Sotona has been linked to a variety of clubs in recent months
— Simon Peach (@SimonPeach) September 11, 2020
It’s unlikely to affect the first team just now because there was no indication that he was set to break through, but it will be a bad look for the club if he goes on to shine somewhere else.