Manchester United have signed a contract with a five-year-old kid. Despite his parents being fans of the club’s biggest rivals Manchester City, they say they are proud of their boy.
Charlie Jackson was first spotted at the Footytotz football school training session, The Daily Mail reports. The United scouts singled him out, but he was too young to join the club. Two years later they returned to finalize the deal.
“His idols are Joe Hart and Mario Balotelli, and at first he was mortified that he was having to train with United, but he seems to be getting over that a bit now,” Charlie’s father recalls.
“Everywhere we go people notice him because of his football talent, whether it’s on the park or on holiday.
“People just stand there and watch him, they can’t believe he’s only five because he’s so good,” the proud dad adds.
The boy has already started training with Man United youth, which makes him the youngest player in the club’s history. But despite such a great career start, his father is very cautious about his son’s future – especially in the rival camp.
‘We haven’t set him any long-term goals. The moment he stops enjoying football is the moment we look at doing something else with him,” he says, adding: “There’s no pressure on him at all, but it would be nice if he plays for City one day.”
It is not the first such signing in the football history. Earlier this year, Real Madrid recruited a seven-year-old wunderkind to the club’s academy, while the world record belongs to Dutch club Venlo, who managed to sign a 10-year contract with a 18-month-old boy.