Tosin Kehinde addresses future amid interest from Derby and Nottingham Forest

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Derby County and Nottingham Forest are reportedly keen on Tosin Kehinde.

Manchester United talent Tosin Kehinde has told ESPN that he needs to be playing first-team football as speculation surrounds his future.

Kehinde, 20, was born in Lagos in his native Nigeria before heading to England at a young age, and he has been coming through the United ranks ever since.

The youngster, who can play out wide or as a creative central midfielder, was a regular in the Premier League 2 last season, notching two goals and one assist in 36 appearances.

Kehinde’s United contract expired on June 30^th, meaning he will be available to move on to the club of his choosing this summer, having failed to agree a new contract with the Red Devils.

A number of clubs are reportedly keen, and with All Nigeria Soccer reporting earlier this week that Derby County and Nottingham Forest – led by Frank Lampard and Aitor Karanka respectively – are among the clubs keen.

United are reportedly demanding a £500,000 compensation fee for Kehinde should he move on, and that fee is reportedly putting some clubs off handing the midfielder a contract.

Now, Kehinde has spoken to ESPN about his future, suggesting that he needs to be playing in a first-team environment rather than sitting in the United under-23’s at this stage in his career.

Kehinde wants to see whether he can hold his own in senior football and feels it may be time to leave United in search of that opportunity, handing Lampard and Karanka a major boost.

“The main thing for me at this moment in time, I feel like, especially at my age, I need to be around a first-team environment,” said Kehinde. “That’s the thing for me. At my age, you need to be testing yourself and putting yourself in those kinds of situations to see where you’re at, to see if you’re at that level and that you’re ready for it, or there are still things that need to be worked on.”

“As much as the Under-23s is good, you can’t spend too long in there because when it is time to move on, it’s difficult because you have got no real experience in men’s football,” he added.