Derry City run eye over former Man United youth and ex-Southampton defender

The City boss has been running his eye over ex-Manchester United youth D'Mani Mellor who can play in various attacking positions and former Southampton youth team defender Zuriel Otseh-Taiwo who scored in Saturday's 2-0 friendly win over Crusaders at Seaview.Both players featured for 70 minutes of that friendly fixture for Stephen Baxter's testimonial and could be added to Higgins' squad when the transfer window opens on July 1st.Mellor made one appearance for Man United's first team playing in the Europa League tie with Astana in 2019 which ensured he featured in every age group for the Old Trafford side.The striker was released in 2022 and joined League One side Wycombe Wanderers where he made 12 appearances between July and January.The 23 year-old spent the remainder of the campaign on loan at Rochdale where he made 19 appearances before being loaned out to League Two outfit Sutton United until January 2024.Otseh-Taiwo meanwhile signed his first professional contract with Southampton in the summer of 2022 but was released upon the expiry of his contract on June 2023.The Anglo-Nigerian fullback spent seven years at St Mary's having joined them as a schoolboy in 2016. He rose through the ranks before establishing himself in the B team where he made 25 appearances for the Saints in the U18 Premier League and played in 37 games for the B team in the Premier League 2.Meanwhile new signing Davenport came through the Manchester City academy and mainly operates as a defensive midfielder, while also being adept in the centre of defence and at left full-back. He will be formally unveiled as a City player at a press conference at Brandywell on Tuesday.

Unveiling the new signing on the club website on Saturday afternoon, a statement read as follows: "Derry City FC can confirm that midfielder Jacob Davenport has joined the club on a permanent deal ahead of the upcoming summer transfer window."The highly-rated 25-year-old is a product of the Manchester City Academy where he played alongside Will Patching and Sadou Diallo."Ruaidhri Higgins moved quickly to secure the player's signature once he had agreed to move from Morecambe with Jacob arriving in the City late on Friday night."He has made over 50 appearances in the English Championship with Blackburn Rovers and Burton Albion, and 35 more in the EFL and FA cup, showing the type of quality our supporters can look forward to seeing."Jacob will be formally introduced at a press conference and will be available for selection after 1 July."