Manchester United 'renew interest' in West Ham starlet Domingos Quina

Manchester United appear ready to revisit their interest in attacking midfield prospect Domingos Quina, with reports suggesting that scouts have been dispatched to watch the promising West Ham United teenager in action.

A host of European heavyweights including the Red Devils, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and Paris Saint-Germain were said to be chasing Quina before the Guinea-Bissau-born Portuguese Under-19 international joined the Hammers on an initial two-year scholarship deal in May 2016 after leaving Chelsea, where he was never officially registered to the academy.

The deal was lauded as quite the coup for West Ham, who officially signed the former Benfica schoolboy to a three-year professional contract after he turned 17 last November.

Quina, a talented and versatile no.10 who was part of Portugal's Under-17 European Championship winning team, made his first senior appearances under Slaven Bilic in both Europa League qualifying ties against Slovenian outfit NK Domzale before appearing for the Under-23s in their Checkatrade Trophy defeat to Coventry City.

Under-18 regular Quina was an unused substitute for 13 Premier League matches last term and made two more senior appearances earlier this season after being brought on during respective Carabao Cup victories over Cheltenham Town and Bolton Wanderers. He returned to Checkatrade Trophy duty with starts against Swindon Town and Bristol Rovers, although has yet to make another top-flight matchday squad in 2017-18.

Reports from The Mirror last month stated that West Ham, now managed by David Moyes after Bilic was finally sacked earlier in November, had opened talks over a long-term contract extension for Quina and they will be hoping those discussions begin to bear fruit soon as United re-enter the equation.

According to ESPN, the Red Devils were one of the clubs that dispatched scouts to watch the player, who turns 18 tomorrow (18 November), net during Portugal's 2-1 Under-19 friendly win over neighbours Spain on Tuesday. The Under-19s reached the final of the 2017 European Championship in July, where they lost 2-1 to England in Georgia.

Quina, who could be allowed to leave West Ham on loan in January, is not the only fledgling Portuguese youth international from Guinea-Bissau being closely tracked by United. Last week, Record reported that they had already agreed a deal with Benfica to sign highly-rated 16-year-old winger Umaro Embalo - a player also being targeted by Real Madrid and RB Leipzig.

Embalo's teammates Joao Felix and Joao Filipe have also been monitored, the latter after previously attending Carrington for a trial period.

The likes of Aliou Traore, Di'Shon Bernard, Largie Ramazani, Ethan Galbraith and Arnau Puigmal were also signed over the summer as United look to bolster their academy ranks with top talent from across the continent.