Newcastle United are battling with Liverpool in an attempt to sign young Kilmarnock defender Charlie McArthur.
That’s according to The Daily Mail, who claim that Newcastle have now ‘stepped up’ their interest in the 17-year-old.
Liverpool are named as being amongst a whole host of clubs willing to bring the teenaged centre-back to England. But it’s Newcastle who reportedly have the upper-hand, having now ‘opened talks’ with Kilmarnock.
McArthur has a year to run on his current contract, and his club will reportedly ask for a ‘six-figure sum.’
Who is Charlie McArthur
At seventeen, McArthur has already broken into the first-team set-up at Kilmarnock.
After making his debut towards the back-end of last season, he went on to play four times for Killie as they were promoted to the Premiership.
It’s no mean feat to break into the rough-and-ready world of the Scottish second division, but the young man has done it.
The centre-back has international pedigree too. Having captained Scotland under-17’s at the recent U17 European Championship, he’s obviously very well thought of.
Liverpool go raiding in Scotland
Having already poached exciting young winger Ben Doak from Celtic, Liverpool are seemingly on the verge of securing the services of perhaps the best young talent Scotland has to offer, too.
Calvin Ramsay’s move to Liverpool has hit the buffers a little, but it’s still expected to happen.
Perhaps they’ll see fit to raid North of the border yet again.
Brexit rules are uncompromising on importing young talent from overseas. As clubs get more used to the new system, we should expect to see more English clubs attempting to sweep up top Scottish talent.
Another exciting forward – Rory Wilson of Rangers – was also said to be on The Reds’ radar. However, it looks as though Steven Gerrard’s Rangers connections have won that particular race for Aston Villa.