The 18-year-old signed a three-year deal today to keep him at Griffin Park until the summer of 2020 as part of Kevin O'Connor's B Team squad. Joe was an integral part of City's Under-18 league side this season, managed by former Brentford Head Coach Lee Carsley and is expected to join his new team mates for training today [Tuesday] subject to Football League approval.
Head of Football Operations, Robert Rowan, said: “Joe is a player the Scouting Department and I have been monitoring for quite some time, therefore, we are really pleased to welcome him to the Football Club today. He’s an instinctive Centre Forward who is constantly looking to create opportunities for himself or his team mates by getting in good attacking positions. This season he’s scored 12 goals and provided six assists from 11 starts for Manchester City’s Under-18s, which is an impressive record for any player, and inevitably his performances created interest from other Premier League Clubs.
The Technical Staff have had discussions with him on where we and he see his strengths and weaknesses. Now we will devise a plan along with Joe on how to improve him as a player using the services provided by the support departments. I would like to thank Manchester City for their support and transparency throughout this process, in particular Mark Allen and Lee Carsley.”