Sources: Burnley set to sign former Man United youngster Deji Sotona
Burnley are set to sign OGC Nice forward Deji Sotona on a free transfer, sources have told Football Insider.
The former Manchester United youngster returned to France this month after completing a loan deal at Kilmarnock but is now set to fly to England to sign for the Championship leaders.
The 20-year-old has struggled for game time since making a permanent move to Nice and he is now joining Burnley in hopes of reigniting his promising career.
Sotona attracted attention from both Man City and Man United as a youngster, and eventually chose to sign for the Red Devils aged 13.
He spent four years at Carrington, working his way up the ranks and even training with the first team.
Remarkably, at 16 years old he was named the fastest player at the club, clocking a speed of 22.9mph to pip Marcus Rashford and Diogo Dalot to the top of the timesheets.
Man United offered Sotona a three-year contract extension after his stint with the first team but he rejected the offer and instead became a free agent in 2020.
Former Nice manager Patrick Vieira then personally reached out to Sotona to lure him to the French outfit, promising the youngster some first-team minutes.
Sotona joined Nice after his Man United contract expired, but Vieira was sacked shortly after and game time became hard to come by for the young striker.
He joined Brentford’s B team for a six-month loan in January 2022, and then immediately joined Kilmarnock on a season-long loan afterwards.
However, Sotona continued to struggle for game time, making just two appearances for Kilmarnock during his loan for a total of 32 minutes.
In other news, Southampton agree a £26.2m deal for Braga striker Vitinha