Gillingham have fought off heavy competition to clinch the signature of former Manchester United youngster Matty Willock on a two-year permanent contract.

The club fended off interest from many teams, including Scottish giants Glasgow Rangers, to sign the heavily rated United youngster who arrives with strong references, including from former United legend Nicky Butt.

Matty, 22, is six feet tall and made his professional debut, while on loan from United, with Dutch side FC Utrecht on October 1, 2017 before enjoying another spell with St. Johnstone, where he made 12 appearances and scored one goal.

Last season he, again, had two loan stints away from Old Trafford, the first of which with Scottish Premier League side St. Mirren where Matty made 14 appearances before being snapped up by Crawley Town where he finished the campaign, featuring 11 times.

He was released by Manchester United earlier this summer, his career pathway only blocked by experienced first-teamers such as Paul Pogba, Juan Mata and Jesse Lingard.

Willock, who came through the youth ranks at Arsenal, signed his deal on Thursday morning and said: “I’m delighted, I can’t wait to get going and I’m excited to meet my new team-mates and begin playing.

“I’ve been on loan for the last two years so I wanted to carry on with my development, play men’s Football and I thought this was the perfect opportunity.”

Steve Evans said: “During my brief time as Manager, this is the signing that excites me the most given his ability, stature, strength and unbelievable reference from United legend Nicky Butt.

“Huge thanks must go to the Chairman who, I think it’s fair to say, I’ve messaged more recently than my wife.

“Gills fans should remember his name; they will love this signing. He is destined for greater things and we’ve beaten off some very significant interest from Championship clubs. He is nothing short of an outstanding talent.”