Could Manchester United swoop for 'The Next Michael Owen?'

Manchester United have already snapped up one of Max Clayton's former teammates. Could he be next?

Max Clayton is being hailed as the next big thing in English football. Looking at the club he plays for, its easy to understand why.

He is the latest youngster to come through Crewe Alexandra's revered academy, following in the footsteps of Nick Powell.

This time last year, Powell was making his way in League Two, and ended up inspiring the Railwaymen to promotion via the playoffs.

Even at the level he was playing at, his showings did not go unnoticed, he was snapped up by none other than Manchester United.

So could Clayton follow in his footsteps? It is certainly not inconceivable.

He told the BBC last month: "It still gives me goosebumps when I see him come on for Man Utd, Nick and I played together from the age of five or six and there was not much between us. He has pushed on and I am delighted for him. Hopefully I can go on and do bigger things."

Perhaps it would be an inspired decision from United to link the two together. Clayton has been compared to Michael Owen, and it is not for his love of racehorses, or regular use of Twitter, or warming the bench, but his natural goalscoring ability.

Here are five facts about him...

1) Clayton is just 18, and was born on August 9, 1994. That day Lee Sharpe was scoring for United in a pre-season game.

2) He made his debut at just 16, as a substitute against Morecambe in April 2011, and scored his first professional goal at 17, in the October of that year against Macclesfield. So far this season he has four goals and one assist.

3) His most important strike to date is the goal scored in the play-off semi-final against Southend last season, which took Crewe to Wembley, and preceded Nick Powell's winning goal in the final.

4) Clayton has represented England at youth level, from under-16, up to under-19, featuring alongside Powell against Germany's under-19 side last month, a defeat which saw Liverpool youngster Samed Yesil score twice.

5) He comes from a footballing family. His older brother Harry Clayton plays for Crewe, also a striker, and has tipped Max to go on and play for England's senior team. His dad Paul Clayton also played for the Railwaymen back in the late 1980s.

Is he worth United taking a punt on, or should they wait and see how he develops?

Dan Coombs

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Dan Coombs is a writer who is keen to embrace the internet revolution. He first started writing for us in June 2011 and commenced his new role as Sports Editor in February 2012.

As a trained journalist he has met famous faces from Mr T to Boris Johnson. He once featured in an England World Cup music video too, but it did not make the charts.

He grew up wanting to be a Formula 1 driver, but it looks like this dream has passed him by. Instead, he hopes you enjoy reading his writing on our site, as we seek to debate the day's sporting hot topics.