Hugo Fernandez receives interest from Manchester United

All over Europe, scouts are already busy, quietly eyeing up young players who might shape the next few seasons.

English clubs are especially eager to find teenage defenders right now.

There’s a real shortage of centre-backs at youth level, and every year the demand just gets higher.

Spain’s still a hotspot, and lately, several Premier League clubs have kept a close watch as a few standout kids start to pull ahead of the rest.

Hugo Fernandez is one of them.

He’s a teenager who’s been steadily rising at Valencia CF.

Born in 2008, he’s turned into a regular for their youth team this season, starting 12 out of 13 league matches.

Hugo Fernandez has stepped up for Valencia Mestalla and even trained with the first team, which shows how much faith the club has in him.

Fernandez is 1.94m tall, right-footed, and he ticks a lot of boxes for Premier League academies, especially since there just aren’t many centre-backs his age coming through in England.

He’s got the size and the technical skills, and that’s already got clubs reaching out to his representatives, trying to figure out where he sees his future.

Manchester United seem to have moved fastest.

Arsenal and Chelsea have made their own approaches, but right now, United look like they’re leading the way, as reported by Spanish outlet Esportbase.

They’ve already laid out a clear plan to Fernandez and his camp.

Chelsea have pitched something a bit different, a step-by-step path that could include a loan to Strasbourg down the line.

Valencia, for their part, aren’t getting worked up about any of this.

Hugo Fernandez joined them from Real Sociedad just over two years ago and has already renewed his contract twice.

His current deal runs to June 2027, with an option to extend to 2029, and there’s a hefty release clause.

For now, Fernandez is just focused on getting better in Spain.

It also isn’t the first time Manchester United have looked towards Valencia, having previously tracked Javi Guerra in 2024 before a move ultimately failed to develop.

But with some of England’s biggest clubs circling, it feels like the next few months could really shape where he ends up.