According to multiplereports, Canada U-18 international Josh Doughty, who played the last two years with Real Salt Lake's residential academy program in Arizona, has signed a youth contract with Manchester United.
Doughty, who will not turn 18 until April, posted on Twitter on Thursday morning in England that he had passed a medical exam to join Manchester United's youth program.
Because his parents are British citizens, Doughty does not need to be 18 to join a club in the United Kingdom. He remains eligible to represent Canada (where he was born), the US (where he has lived since age four and is expected to receive citizenship) or England.
He was part of a Canadian U-18 camp in October, at which point he was already listed with Manchester United's academy, and had previously taken part in Canadian camps at the U-16 age level.
Raised in the Phoenix area, Doughty scored 10 goals for Real Salt Lake's U-16 team during the 2013-14 US Soccer Development Academy season, scoring in the semifinal to help RSL reach the championship game, where they lost to the LA Galaxy. He netted seven times in 2012-13 while helping Salt Lake to the U-16 national title. His last competitive appearance for RSL was July 19.
Earlier this year, Doughty was part of the Real Salt Lake team that reached the final of the 2014 Generation adidas Cup, Major League Soccer's youth championship. Doughty started as a lone forward and scored three times in the tournament, including two goals in a 3-0 semifinal win over FC Dallas (highlights above).
Former RSL academy teammate Sebastian Saucedo, who won the Golden Ball at the Generation adidas Cup and signed a Homegrown contract with Real in July, took to Twitter to wish Doughty luck.
RSL defender and Mexican international hopeful Carlos Salcedo is perhaps the most prominent player to sign a professional contract after coming through the RSL academy system, but others who spent time in the system include Nick DeLeon, Tony Cascio, Romain Gall and Benji Lopez.
