Sheffield United 'trial' booked in for promising 16-year-old striker
Sheffield United’s youth-level recruitment drive looks to be continuing.
Sheffield United could be set to strengthen their youth ranks with reports Partick Thistle striker Jack Braid has been taken on trial.
Sixteen-year-old Braid has caught the eye playing above his age at Scottish Championship outfit Patrick Thistle as a regular in the under-18 setup. Football League World report United are among the teenager’s most interested suitors, having invited the striker down to Shirecliffe.
Blades recruitment chiefs are keen to take a closer look at Braid, who in turn will be desperate to impress as the prospect of a move south becomes possible. The report adds that any move for the young Scot would see him join up with United’s academy, most likely at under-18 level where he has been playing for Partick Thistle.
Should United opt to sign Braid then he will become the latest young recruit since US-based consortium COH Sports, led by Steven Rosen and Helmy Eltoukhy, took over in December. Chris Wilder welcomed several first-team players through the door in January but there was also room for a couple of left-field additions.
The new owners introduced an Artificial Intelligence (AI) model to identify otherwise untapped talent, an approach that saw them sign young pair Jefferson Caceres and Christian Nwachukwu. Confirmation of the former’s deadline-day arrival even described how he was ‘identified through United's data driven transfer strategy’.
The 22-year-old Peruvian arrived from FBC Melgar in his home country, while Nigerian Nwachukwu was picked up from Botev Plovdiv in Bulgaria. As would be the case with Braid if he signs, the pair’s immediate focus will be on developing as youth-level players before hopefully making a push for the first-team picture.
It is unclear whether Braid, whose Partick Thistle side should be much easier to follow than clubs in Peru or Bulgaria, was identified by using the same data-driven model. But it is something head coach Wilder has been receptive to using as part of a wider talent scouting model.
"With the collaborative way we work with regards signings, the options available to the club under the new ownership allows us to cast our net further afield,” he said following confirmation of Caceres’ arrival last month. “I've spoken previously about how we are looking to be more data driven with some of our targets, and we have explored the use of this to find players which were previously not on our radar. Jefferson has been identified using this strategy, and he's a young lad who we're keen to develop."