A new name is rising up from the ashes and for this youngster too, represents the Sky Blue of Manchester, Manchester City. According to a report in The Times, several Premier League clubs, including Arsenal, Tottenham and Southampton, are vying to acquire the signature of the ‘highly-rated’ Manchester City starlet Bobby Duncan.
Manchester City recently encountered a strange situation where they saw one of their promising youngsters, in Jadon Sancho, leave the club to join German giants Borussia Dortmund for a fee reported to be around £8m. The Citizens, for the second time of asking, are on the verge of confronting a similar situation as the aforementioned source quotes that the 16-year-old Bobby is yet to sign a professional contract with the club.
The Citizens will have to compensate if the striker indeed decides to move away from the Etihad, but the club till date has remained confident enough that Bobby, who turns 17 next summer, will sign a contract with them. Furthermore, as reported by the Sun, Arsenal scouts were present when Bobby scored the winner for England u-17 when they played Portugal on November 8, and it seems like the Gunners were left utterly impressed.
Duncan scored a hat-trick against Brazil in 2016 and with the feat, he became the first Englishman to do so against any Brazilian team in history. Also, in case if you don’t know, Bobby is a cousin of Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard, and was rejected by the Reds when he was younger.
Speaking about his record (the hat-trick against Brazil), the youngster had then said,
“My dad used to give me a DVD to go and watch in the car and it had all of Steven’s goals on it. I used to watch that over and over again thinking ‘one day that could be me’. I’ve always looked up to Steven. I’m related to him and like me, he’s a local kid from Huyton.”
“Steven’s been a big influence. What he achieved in his career inspires me. He always had that hunger and desire to win trophies.
“As well as talent, it was his attitude, character and leadership that made him the player he was.
“I’ve always tried to learn from him and when he messaged me after the hat-trick that meant a lot.”
It is hard to comment on whether Bobby will end up signing a new contract or not, but one thing is certain; his mind might have been affected by seeing Sancho moving to Borussia Dortmund. And with so many clubs already being listed as potential destinations, it will now be interesting to see what lies in store next.
