Born in Newcastle, Shoretire took his first steps at Wallsend Boys Club – following in the footsteps of Peter Beardsley, Alan Shearer, Michael Carrick and Lee Clark among others – before joining the Magpies’ academy at the age of seven. “When someone has that star talent you can just tell,” Ian Riley, who coached Shoretire during his year in the Wallsend U8s, told Goal. “It’s hard to explain but it’s there already. Wherever you played him he did alright because he had determination and he always had confidence, though he mostly played on the right wing. He liked to dribble and go past people and he liked to cross the ball and he scored goals. He was an all-round little package.”
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11 Shola Shoretire – Manchester United – Market value: €3m
Following a brief stint in the youth setup of rivals Man City, Shoretire joined United’s academy at the age of ten. Speaking about this move, fellow Wallsend alumny Clark expressed his disappointment at Newcastle not luring him to St James’ Park instead. “I’ve watched Shola Shoretire when my son Bobby has been down at the academy at Newcastle and played against Man United in the years above,” he wrote in his column for Tribal Football last year. “Shola is an unbelievable young talent with fantastic ability. Great pace, great movement. He made his debut this week for the U23s having just turned 16. He’s not the biggest but he’s powerful and I know the people at United are excited.”
Shola Shoretire: Comparisons with Greenwood because of versatility
Most of the time since joining United, Shoretire has played above his age group, and in 2018 he became the youngest player to ever feature in the UEFA Youth League when making his debut in the U19s competition at the age of 14 years, ten months and ten days. As the youngster continues to develop, it remains to be seen in which position he will make his breakthrough, given he has played on both wings, as a centre-forward and as a number ten in the past – a versatility that already earned him comparisons with fellow top talents Greenwood and Marcus Rashford.
Talents Calendar 2020: Here is how the players have developed
That Kluiverth Aguilar would move to Europe was already certain last year. Signed by Manchester City, the right-back is currently under contract at Lommel SK, which also is part of the City Group.
For Xavi Simons the last season was a mixed back. First close to the first team, the talented attacking midfielder has been ignored by Mauricio Pochettino and is currently considering a transfer to another club.
Mexiko, Canada or England: For now Marcelo Flores the talented midfielder has opted for Mexico’s U20 but it is expected that Flores will await a final decision as Canada remains in the mix to secure the services of the 18-year-old.
Hannibal Mejbri is the third player in the calendar to switch national teams. Previously with France, the Man United talent has since made the switch to Tunisia.
Not surprising Caden Clark will join RB Leipzig this winter. This year the 18-year-old played his first full season with New York Red Bulls with whom he was eliminated in the first round of the MLS Cup Playoffs.
Ísak Bergmann Jóhannesson | Iceland | Market value: €4.5 million
Yusuf Demir has fulfilled his wish and joined FC Barcelona where he has already made his debut for the first team.
With attacking players like Anthony Martial, Jesse Lingard and Edison Cavani linked with moves away from Old Trafford, a chance to make the first team squad more often might soon arise for Shoretire, who signed his first professional contract in February after United fought off interest from Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain, Juventus and Bayern Munich. If not, a loan move could also be a possibility for the youngster take his next steps.
From December 1 to 24, we introduce new players from different countries born in 2004. Area managers, users, and data scouts come into play as experts throughout the series. You can follow all those players by adding them to your TM watchlist.