Little Charlie Jackson is only five years old but Wednesday he was being tipped as a soccer star of the future after being snapped up by EPL giant Manchester United.
The soccer whiz kid, from Denton about five miles (eight kilometers) to the east of Manchester city center, was spotted by talent scouts when he was aged just three, the Manchester Evening News reported, but United waited two years until they decided he was old enough to join them for training once a week.
Revealing that Charlie was actually a fan of United's cross-city rivals, Manchester City, his father, Andy, admitted it had taken a bit of persuasion to get the youngster to wear the Reds' badge.
"His idols are [City players] Joe Hart and Mario Balotelli and at first he was mortified that he was having to train with United -- but he seems to be getting over that a bit now," Andy Jackson said.
"He loves training with the club and it's an amazing opportunity for him. He has power in his left and right foot. For a little boy he's so strong, he's unbelievable."
Charlie is now training with other top-rated juniors, who are almost all a year older than him, and coaches are tipping him as a superstar of the future.
But a club source told The Sun, "As Charlie's only five, we can't sign him for four more years. At this stage it's more about getting kids to enjoy sport."
