28 February 2023 , 15:28
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Welsh teenager Gabriele Biancheri has confirmed that he has completed his move from Cardiff City to Manchester United.
Biancheri completed a medical with United in January and announced his departure from Cardiff earlier this month. The paperwork has taken some time to complete, but the 16-year-old is now a United player.
He will join the club as a scholar before penning a long-term professional contract when he turns 17 in September. With everything now confirmed, Biancheri took the opportunity to post pictures of himself in a United shirt on social media.
“Ready for the next chapter! Let’s go @manchesterunited,” he wrote on Instagram alongside snaps of himself in his new club’s kit. “I’m a red,” he added on Twitter.
Biancheri, who is a Wales under-17 international, caught the eye playing in Cardiff’s academy last year. After scoring 17 goals in his first 11 matches of the season for the under-18s, he was promoted to the under-21s, where he made his debut against Wolves in December.
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After attracting interest from Chelsea, he decided to move to United in January. His decision may have been influenced by David Hughes, who joined United as a Professional Development Phase coach last summer after working as Cardiff's academy chief.
“After more than 9 years my time with Cardiff has come to an end,” Biancheri previously tweeted. “I’d like to thank all of my coaches for helping me become the player and person I am today and to all my teammates. I’ll forever be thankful for the opportunity I’ve had at this club.”
Speaking in December, Cardiff under-18 head coach Steve Jenkins expressed plenty of excitement about Biancheri’s potential. “There’s a long way to go with him being only 16, but he’s been fantastic stepping up,” he said.
Gabriele Biancheri has joined Manchester United from Cardiff (Cardiff City FC)“Goals are brilliant for him, and his two against Bristol City to win us the game earned that call up to the U21s, and when he had his 45 minutes for them I was really impressed.”
Biancheri will join United’s under-18 set-up at Carrington before looking to work his way through the age groups and challenge for a place in Erik ten Hag’s senior squad in the coming years. He will be hopeful in following in the footsteps of recent graduates like Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo, who have both featured for the first team this season.
While he has been playing for Wales at youth level, Biancheri is also eligible to represent England and Italy internationally.