Manchester United dealt another transfer blow as attacking midfielder opts to join Ligue 1 club for £8.5m: Reports

Marseille have reportedly beaten Manchester United to the signature of Troyes wonderkid Sayha Seha.

According to Football Insider, Troyes have accepted an offer of £8.5 million plus add-ons from their Ligue 1 rivals.

The 17-year-old is yet to make his professional debut, but has turned heads in several youth teams, including the French U17 side. The teenager is capable of playing in attacking midfield as well as on either wing.

Manchester United were reportedly one of a number of major European clubs who were after Seha. But Marseille appear to have won the race for his signature, as he has now agreed personal terms on a long-term deal to move to the Stade Velodrome.

Seha scored twice and provided three assists in three games during Troyes U19s run to the semi-finals of the French Youth Cup last term.

The deal means that United have failed to sign yet another of their transfer targets, having only snapped up three players so far this summer.

Despite the club's disastrous start to the season, they do appear to have some excellent prospects coming through the academy, which Erik ten Hag may be forced to use in the near future.

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Rene Meulensteen heaps praise on Manchester United youth striker Alejandro Garnacho

One of the club's brightest prospects is 18-year-old striker Garancho, who the Red Devils snapped up from Atletico Madrid in 2020.

The Argentina U20 international has already made three Premier League appearances and former Manchester United coach Meulensteen believes he is ready to make an impact.

The Dutch coach told Talk of the Devils:

“I want to also mention Charlie Savage because I was very impressed with him in pre-season, he has very good awareness, his understanding of the game and his positioning is great, his use of the ball is very good. He always looks to get the ball forward."

On Garnacho, Ten Hag said:

“Garnacho, though, he’s a different kind of player. He’s a difference maker. He’s quick, direct, he gets people up. So if I would use any young player, it would probably be Garnacho."

He added:

“There is some excitement about the young players and rightly so but this is a time of great uncertainty at the club. It’s not completely clear about Cristiano Ronaldo's future, Erik ten Hag doesn’t appear to see Marcus Rashford as an out-and-out striker.

He further continued:

"They’re not the only ones, you have a lot of teams with good international players. To put all the responsibility on young players wouldn’t be fair. They would learn a lot, for sure, but the price is likely to be high in terms of how it would cost them in the long term.”