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Manchester United have confirmed the signing of teenage forward Enzo Kana-Biyik from French club Le Havre.
Kana-Biyik, 18, was unveiled as a United player on Thursday morning and will go out on loan to Swiss Super League side Lausanne-Sport next season.
A statement from United read: ‘Manchester United have completed the signing of exciting young forward Enzo Kana-Biyik. Everyone at United would like to welcome Enzo to the club and wish him the very best of luck for his loan.’
United are understood to have fought off competition from Monaco and Marseille for Kana-Biyik who also turned down the offer of a new contract at Le Havre – the same club that had Paul Pogba before he joined United’s academy in 2009.
He scored nine goals in 18 games for Le Havre’s Under-19s side but didn’t make a first-team appearance despite being named on the bench twice last season against Lille in Ligue 1 and Stade Briochin in the French Cup.
The teenager, who was born in Paris and has played for France’s youth teams, is the son of former Cameroon defender Andre Kana-Biyik who won 80 caps for his country and played for Le Havre in the 1990s. His uncle Francois, elder brother Jean-Armel and cousin Emilio have also played professionally.
The signing of Kana-Biyik and decision to loan him out to Ineos-owned Lausanne is another example of a change in United’s policy to identify and invest in some of Europe’s top young talent.
Leny Yoro, Chido Obi and Ayden Heaven are among the teenagers signed under Sir Jim Ratcliffe who said last year: ‘I would rather sign the next Mbappe than spend a fortune buying success. It's not that clever buying Mbappe. Anyone could figure that one out. More challenging is to find the next Mbappe, next Jude Bellingham or next Roy Keane.’
