Manchester United head of academy Nick Cox has explained the motivation behind their foreign influx this past year.
United's recruitment drive of 2020 was a result of a slight gap in that "pipeline" of talent, Cox explains, as well as the club's desire to send many of its hitherto Under-23 stalwarts out on loan to gain first team experience.
"It just so happened that last summer we looked at the group of players we had locally and didn't think we had the high levels of potential level required," says Cox to the Manchester Evening News. "So we decided to add to it.
"It wasn't some big shift towards foreign recruitment; every year is different. You pick a different strategy based on the needs each year.
"Some came from Europe and some came from elsewhere in this country and we have some high-potential players within the academy as well — let's not forget [recent first team debutant] Shola Shoreitre is part of that programme."
