South African Club to Net United Deal

South African outfit Wits University are reportedly close to bagging an affiliate agreement with Manchester United in order to mature the finest talent to come out of Africa.

The Red Devils already have similar arrangements with various clubs dotted literally all around the globe, the most famous with Belgian club Royal Antwerp.

Brazilian's Sao Paulo, Austrailia's Parramatta, Portugal's Sporting Lisbon, France's Nantes, the Republic of Ireland's Shelbourne and Wales' Connah's Quay Nomads are just a few more clubs Sir Alex Ferguson has sealed partnerships with.

The whole point of the links are to grow, mature and condition the world's hottest talent and give them a potential chance of a trial at Old Trafford. An advantage of having an alliance with a club is that United get a slashed sale price on quality players. Examples of this include Cristiano Ronaldo's move from Sporting Lisbon and Eric Djemba-Djemba's signing from Nantes.