Leeds United sign highly-rated Charlie Allen

The powerfully-built midfielder, who can also play in attack, has joined from Linfield for an undisclosed fee. He has signed a three-year contract and will initially join up with the Whites' under-18s.

Allen made his Linfield debut as a 15-year-old, and was credited with an assist that day, when the Belfast side drew with Coleraine.

The transfer represents a coup for the Premier League new boys. Allen has had trials with Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and Rangers, and is also thought to have caught the eye of Manchester City and Chelsea.

"It has always been a case of where he was going to go because he has had tremendous qualities and ability since he was a young boy,” said Northern Ireland's elite performance director Jim Magilton of the under-17 international recently.

"Charlie was one of those kids that you could play him anywhere and he was probably the best player on the pitch. He could play right-back, right midfield, central midfield, as a No 10 or at centre-forward and off either flank.

"He has always had that wonderful ability to go past people which is a dying art. We didn't want to coach that out of him and it was an insistence of mine to give him the confidence to keep playing that way.

"Charlie has developed physically and worked extremely hard in the gym. An important aspect of our programme is developing the boys and Charlie has excelled in that area. He is also an under-17 international and is a really, really good footballer.”

Allen's signing follows the arrival of 18-year-old Gelhardt, who made 20 appearances for the Latics' first team, scoring once.

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