United are to take a closer look at young Southend starlet Medi Abalimba, according to the League One club.

Head of youth, Ricky Duncan, confirmed the 16-year-old midfielder will spend four days training at Carrington at the end of October.

"Manchester United contacted us the other day," Duncan told southendunited.co.uk. "They have watched Medi a few times and they like what they have seen.

"He will go to Manchester at the end of the month and they will assess him in training and maybe take him a bit longer so he can play in a game.

"We have given permission to go for the experience. As a club, we don't to lose our players to bigger clubs, but we should not stop them experiencing these types of things when they come along."

Abalimba turned down a number of Premier League clubs to join the Blues in the summer, and has attracted attention with some tricky performances in Southend's Under-18s. Abalimba signed for Southend in the summer from Sunday side Hadleigh Wood.