Lincoln City are reportedly looking at Manchester United striker Ethan Wheatley as Chris Cohen and Tom Shaw continue to shape their squad for the Championship season.
The 20-year-old centre-forward is attracting interest away from Old Trafford, with Everton also said to be considering a permanent move. According to Man Utd Round Table, City are another club looking at Wheatley as Manchester United consider the futures of several of their academy products. Everton’s interest has previously been described as focused on their academy, which could pave the way for a loan. SC Cambur and Schalke 04 have also been linked.
It is not clear at this stage whether our interest has developed beyond simply monitoring the player, but Wheatley certainly fits the profile of the type of young player we have been willing to recruit in recent seasons. He is still only 20, stands at 6ft 2in and has already accumulated senior experience across the Premier League, League One and League Two.
Wheatley has been with Manchester United since the age of nine and made history in April 2024 when he became their 250th academy graduate to appear for the first team. His debut came as an 18-year-old against Sheffield United, and he went on to make three Premier League appearances during that campaign. He was also named United’s Jimmy Murphy Young Player of the Year for 2023/24.
His senior development has largely taken place in the EFL since then. A loan spell with Walsall during the second half of 2024/25 brought four League Two appearances, before he stepped up to League One with Northampton Town last season.
That proved to be his most productive spell in senior football so far. Wheatley featured 25 times in all competitions for the Cobblers and scored three goals, with 22 of those appearances coming in League One. United recalled him in January before sending him back into the same division with Bradford City at the beginning of February. He made 11 league appearances for the Bantams without scoring before returning to Old Trafford this summer.
The numbers perhaps underline that Wheatley would be viewed as a player with development still ahead of him rather than somebody arriving with a substantial senior goalscoring record. However, his pedigree is obvious. As well as breaking into the Manchester United first team, he has represented England from Under-17 through to Under-20 level, scoring three times in ten appearances for the Under-19s. He also scored against both Germany and the Netherlands at the 2025 European Under-19 Championship, having previously found the net three times in two appearances for England Under-18s.
The interesting element of the report is the suggestion that Everton are considering Wheatley for a permanent transfer, rather than another loan being the only possible route away from Manchester. City are simply described as another club “looking at” the striker, so there is nothing yet to suggest a deal is close.
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