Football League World
·19 July 2024
Franco Umeh: 5 players that could be Paul Simpson's mystery Carlisle United signing
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Football League World
·19 July 2024
The Blues have lined up a move for a Premier League attacker.
Carlisle United manager Paul Simpson has revealed that the club have agreed a deal that should see a Premier League loanee join the club at the end of the month, or, at the latest, early August.
Following the 0-0 draw with Workington AFC on Saturday, Simpson said that the player in question was an attacking one.
"He’s got to go away with them on their pre-season trip," the Blues' boss told United's media team. "Everything is agreed for it. Fingers crossed he comes back fit and we’ll see how we go then."
Other than the general type of player that Simpson expects to get in a couple of weeks' time, he wasn't willing to reveal much more about who it is that Carlisle have agreed a deal for. So we at Football League World thought we'd have a look at who this mystery loanee could be.
In this market, connections and relationships can be so vital. Fin Back's move to Brunton Park was made even more possible thanks to Simpson's relationship with Nottingham Forest's manager at the time, Steve Cooper, as per the Carlisle boss.
Cooper is now in charge of Leicester City, and United should continue to use that friendship to help them get some of their best young, attacking players, one of whom is Silko Thomas.
The 20-year-old left-footed winger would bring something that Carlisle don't have at all; a player who naturally plays out wide.
He registered nine combined goals and assists in 16 games for the Foxes in the Premier League 2 last season, and has shown an ability to play through the middle of the pitch too.
The Manchester United winger scored at an average rate of once every 116 minutes last time out for their under-21s side, in the league.
Ethan Williams is more of a goalscoring winger than one that is going to create chances for others, but he showed in this game against Southampton that he has good attacking instincts.
The 19-year-old is in the right place in the box at the right time to tap home two simple finishes.
The 19-year-old Crystal Palace winger is extremely well rated by those who have a close eye on what's going on at Selhurst Park.
Described by The Palace Way as "a skilled dribbler who drives with intent; eager to take on his man and create chances for his teammates," and someone who: "makes the extra effort in attack to drive the space and make himself an option, while showing a willingness in defence to track back and put in tackles," Franco Umeh looks to be one of their best prospects.
Some Carlisle supporters may hear the name of his parent club and instantly dismiss him, which is somewhat understandable given the club's recent history of players who are from the south London club.
But, no matter the poor performances of other Palace prospects at Brunton Park over the years, they are one of the best producers of young talent in the country; United just haven't been able to land any of their best ones.
He's appeared on the bench for them in the Premier League over the last season, which speaks really highly as to what they think of Umeh.
This would be another case of the Blues using their Cooper connections to help themselves in the loan market.
Amani Richards is a player who is referred to by Sofascore as having as good of a right-foot as he does a left one, which, if he were to join Carlisle, would bring great versatility to the squad, and would be aided by Archie Davies' seeming willingness to bomb forward from right-back.
His numbers from the last Premier League 2 campaign aren't too dazzling compared to others (three goals and five assists). But his chance creation and dribbling could come in handy for a team like United.
It's been a summer for young wingers to shine, and Carlisle may look to tap into this recent phenomenon of 16-year-old talents through acquiring Mikey Moore.
The Spurs winger didn't play at all for the under-21s last season, he just went straight to making Premier League appearances.
He's got two of them under his belt, and, like the most famous teenage winger in the world, Lamine Yamal, he's also been performing at a European Championship.
For England, at the under-17 level, he scored four goals in as many games and provided an assist.
It'd be ambitious, quite a risk and probably the least likely of the five to happen, but Moore, who also scored in Tottenham's opening pre-season friendly against Hearts, may be up for the challenge, even at such a slender age.