Leeds United set to win race for Linfield youngster Charlie Allen

Reports suggest that Leeds United have fought off interest from Liverpool, Manchester United, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, and Glasgow Rangers to seal the signing of 16-year-old Charlie Allen from Linfield in Northern Ireland.

Allen became Linfield’s youngest ever debutant when he made his debut aged 15 years, 5 months, and 5 days - registering an assist on his debut. He has since made seven more first team appearances for Linfield, who are currently managed by former Leeds striker David Healy.

Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images

Healy said of Allen: “Charlie has all the attributes. He may not have the size and stature yet, but he has absolute quality and is one that has been coming to the attention of other clubs and rightly so.”

A fee of around £300k has been suggested but the fee is likely to be undisclosed. In the clips that I have seen Allen looks to be very confident on the ball with a decent turn of pace, but I haven’t seen much. Jon Mackenzie of All Stats Aren’t We did a scouting report on Allen which can be viewed here.

It is fair to point out that the majority of signings from NIFL Premiership teams end up moving back within a couple of years, as happened with Robbie McDaid who signed from Glenavon in 2014 and is now playing for Glentoran.

This signing would be something of a punt, but will not cost much money and the player must have showed some real potential for so many clubs to be interested.

What do you think of the potential signing of Charlie Allen? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter @ThruItAllLUFC.