HARARE – Zimbabwe-born Everton defender Brendan Galloway has triggered interest from record English champions Manchester United as a replacement for injured left back Luke Shaw according to reports in the British press.
Galloway moved to Goodison Park last year and has acquitted himself well in the Toffees line-up while deputising for injured England international Leighton Baines.
The 19-year-old full back, signed a five-year deal with Everton when he moved from MK Dons in the summer of 2014 and has started seven of Everton’s Premier League fixtures thus far.
And without Shaw, the Daily Mirror reports United manager Louis van Gaal will try to poach Galloway both as cover and as a long-term prospect in the January transfer window.
Following Everton’s 1-1 draw against Liverpool in their Premiership match, Toffees manager Roberto Martinez heaped praise on the starlet.
“… Brendan Galloway is still a teenager but is someone that brings a smile to your face when he gets on the ball and then the partnership between Ramiro Funes Mori and Phil Jagielka looked like they had been playing together for years,” Matinez told the team’s website.
BBC Sport’s Phil McNulty was also impressed and tweeted after the Merseyside derby: “Brendan Galloway looks a class act and quality in the making while the uncompromising Ramiro Funes Mori was outstanding.”
Galloway, who moved to England with his family when he was six, made his debut for the Merseyside club in a 2-1 away win against West Ham in May this year and since then his rise has been sensational.
Just under a month ago, Martinez said Galloway would be given improved terms after his excellent start to the season.
Galloway is one of the foreign-based players, who has been on the radar of Warriors coach Calisto Pasuwa, and has been called up for assignments with the senior and Under-23 sides in the past.
The defender, who has represented England at Under-17, Under-18 and Under-19 level, has however, not honoured those call-ups as he probably has ambitions for representing the Three Lions in the future.
Under current Fifa rules, the young defender can still change to represent Zimbabwe since he has not played for England at senior level yet.
There are many examples of young talented footballers who have represented European countries at junior level but have later changed their allegiance.
Players like Victor Moses, Freddie Kanoute, Nabil Bentaleb, and Kevin-Prince Boateng all represented European nations at junior level before choosing to play for African countries.
The defender, born Brendan Joel Zibusiso Galloway, became League One club Milton Keynes Dons’s youngest ever first-team player in November 2011 when he made his debut against Nantwich Town aged just 15.
After impressing for MK Dons, Everton signed Galloway for an undisclosed fee on a five-year contract in August 2014.
After arriving at Merseyside, the Zimbabwe-born defender has steadily risen in the Everton ranks and was last season named the club’s Under-21s Player of the Season.
Now that he has got a number of games in the first team, the defender has steadily risen to become one of the dependable members of the squad.
