http://www.espnfc.com/soccer-transf...ted-assessing-barnsley-defender-mason-holgate
Manchester United have taken teenage prospect Mason Holgate on trial with his club, Barnsley, expecting the defender to leave Oakwell.
Holgate, who has also been linked with Arsenal, Aston Villa, Tottenham and Everton, has the chance to impress United's coaching staff this week.
Barnsley boss Lee Johnson had earlier said the League One club were resigning themselves to losing the 18-year-old, who can play at right-back or centre-back and is
reported to be valued at around £1 million. "There's been a lot of interest in Mason and, at this stage it looks like we're destined to lose him, but you never know what's going to happen," Johnson told the Sheffield-based
Star newspaper last week. "The player can always change his mind.
"It's great for the lad to be training with Manchester United, it's a fantastic opportunity, but of course I want him to stay and really feel as though he could benefit from a full season in our first team." Johnson added: "It's an easy sell [to try and keep Mason here]. He played quite a lot of games last season, but I think the best route for him is to play 40 games for us next season and get as much experience as he can.
"There's lot of different routes to the top, but hopefully he decides to stay with us. But of course it must been really tempting to go to United or another Premier League club. "The question then is 'How many games will you play?' You could go out on loan, but selfishly I want Mason to stay and develop more as a player here."