Three academy players have found new clubs after departing Manchester United.
United announced their new academy scholar intake earlier this week with 12 of last year’s u16s making the step up to the u18s.
All three of those who didn’t sign scholarship terms with United have already found their feet at new clubs.
Jaedon Donkor
Having only joined Manchester United near the end of 2023, Jaedon Donkor has ended his short stay at the club with a move further north.
Originally from London, Donkor was playing with a local grassroots club when he was spotted by United having previously been in Arsenal’s academy.
A tricky winger with pace to burn, Donkor impressed at the KDB Cup shortly after joining the club.
But a year on, the youngster has made the move to Heart of Midlothian in Scotland after trials at Nottingham Forest and Leeds United.
Donkor has already featured for his new club, more commonly known as Hearts, in pre-season fixtures including against Musselburgh Athletic, where one fan was so impressed stating his “pace and dribbling suggest he’ll be playing at a higher level sooner rather than later.”
Connor Thorley
On the other end of the spectrum, Connor Thorley said his goodbyes to the only club he knew after a decade with United.
Joining the club in the pre-academy phase, Thorley came through the ranks as a left-back where he impressed enough to earn international caps at u17s level for Wales.
Also leaving England, the 16 year old has made the short move to the north of Wales to join Wrexham.
Thorley also spent time trialling with other clubs last season where he made a Premier League u18s appearance for Southampton but ultimately made the move to the North Wales outfit.
His first involvement with the Welsh club has been on their pre-season trip to Canada for the Halifax Wanderers International Summer Series.
The event will see both clubs square off three times in each of the three Maritimes provinces in Eastern Canada.
The Canadian side came out 3-0 winners in the first match with two more to follow as Thorley started on the bench.
Luca Scanlon
A more familiar name to United’s academy followers, Luca Scanlon is the younger brother of James Scanlon who finished as United’s u18s top scorer last season.
Luca won’t be following in his brother’s footsteps at United though, as he made the move to Burnley a couple of months before the season closed.
The younger Scanlon is now expected to make the move official as he signs scholarship terms with Burnley.
A Gibraltar u17s international, the 15 year old is an attacking midfielder with a similar style to his brother.
As all three young players embark on their career away from Manchester United we wish them the best of luck.
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Colm Murphy
A football obsessed Canadian who moved to England to enjoy the beautiful game. Colm has been keen follower of Manchester United’s famed academy since seeing a fresh faced Adnan Januzaj for the club’s u18s and has been writing about football with a focus on youth development for over 10 years.
