Everton could miss out on Sheffield Wednesday striker George Hirst.
Sheffield Wednesday’s George Hirst will certainly be moving on this summer, but his destination still isn’t known, with Manchester United now wading into the race.
Hirst, 19, has been frozen out at Hillsborough due to his refusal to sign a new contract, and with his deal expiring this summer, the forward is set to be on the move to a Premier League club.
The striker has been targeted by a host of clubs having impressed for England at youth level, and Wednesday boss Jos Luhukay has this week confirmed that Manchester United are now pushing to sign the teenager.
United may be closing in on the forward, but a Premier League rival may be left to rue their decision to wait until the summer to push for Hirst, with Everton now looking unlikely to land him.
The Liverpool Echo note that Everton wanted Hirst last summer and in January as David Unsworth pushed to add him to the Toffees’ Under-23 squad, but the Toffees decided to shelve their interest.
It’s claimed that Wednesday didn’t want to sell in January, so Everton, rather than push and attempt to persuade Hirst into a deal, simply decided to back away and try to wait until his contract expired.
Now, Everton’s nightmare has come to fruition as United are now leading the race, and they may be left wondering whether they should have pushed harder to sign him previously as they face up to seeing him feature elsewhere.
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