Not to be outdone by its global rivals, Manchester United this week recruited 9-year-old Australian Rhain Davis after viewing a highlight DVD of him playing for Brisbane youth club Redlands United. Earlier this summer, Bayern Munich added 13-year-old Peruvian Pier Laurrari to its youth squad.
The video, which was sent in by his grandfather, has been widely circulated on YouTube. It features the youngster issuing slide-rule passes, scoring goals from distance and dancing around players that look twice his size. United officials responded by inviting Davis to move to Manchester, where he will train with the club’s youth academy.
British tabloids like The Sun, of course, are already calling 9-year-old Davis “the next Wayne Rooney.” United responded to the ridiculous claims by reminding the world that the club takes in more than 30 nine-year-olds each year. BBC News points out that Davis must now survive the annual cut at Old Trafford and even if he does that, there is little guarantee he will ever play for Man United’s first team. In fact, the only English player in the current team who came through United’s ranks is Danny Simpson. As agent Sky Andrews says, its impossible to tell if a 9-year-old has the character to be the next Wayne Rooney or Joe Cole.