Barcelona Defender Confirms Leaving Camp Nou, Likely To Join Manchester United

Barcelona prodigy Marc Jurado has decided to leave Camp Nou as reports claim the teenage footballer is angling towards joining Manchester United. The 16-year-old defender confirmed his exit from Barca on Monday, signaling louder talks about impending his move over to the Premier League giants.

“It’s never easy to leave a team that has given you everything. FC Barcelona has been my second home, my second family, where I have developed as a player and as a person,” Jurado wrote on an Instagram post.

The promising full-back spent nine years as a top potential talent at the Spanish academy where he started playing at the age of seven as a schoolboy. Since then, he has turned himself into one of the hottest young footballers in the club.

"Today it’s time to say goodbye, but not before expressing my gratitude to each of the people who have helped me since I started in the pre-benjamín (junior team) in the year 2011. I have been lucky to share my passion with a fantastic generation, with which I will always be linked.

"We started as boys who just wanted to run after a ball and I say goodbye, nine years later, calling them friends. Only we know the immense luck we have had with all the coaches who have developed us and helped us to keep fulfilling our dreams.

“Every stage has a beginning and an end. Mine, having reflected a lot with my family, has come. I leave behind unforgettable memories which will always stay with me.”

Jurado’s display of top-notch skills has apparently earned the attention of Man United, which is reportedly set to sign him to a three-year deal in exchange for a compensation fee worth about $1.46 million.

“Reports first emerged in April suggesting United had initially contacted Barcelona about his availability, and their pursuit seems to have worked with a deal nearing completion for the end of the season. He has now formally confirmed his Barca exit,” Dominic Booth of Manchester Evening News wrote.

“Jurado is expected to be announced as part of United's latest academy intake at the start of the summer along with goalkeeper Vitek and forward Hugill. It is understood that he will sign a three-year contract, with United looking to develop the 16-year-old into a star of the future.”

A massive shakeup is looming for United, which despite being frontrunners to acquire Jurado, also has a number of homegrown players set to leave Old Trafford, namely Cameron Borthwick-Jackson, Demetri Mitchell, Ethan Hamilton, Dion McGhee, George Tanner, Aidan Barlow, Kieran O’Hara, Alex Fojticek and Largie Ramazani.