Manchester United’s new head coach Ruben Amorim has not been afraid to call up academy stars to senior team training since his arrival.
Jack Kingdon was recently called up to training and he and 16-year-old wonderkid Godwill Kukonki have a shot at making the matchday squad for Thursday’s Europa League game against Bodo/Glimt.
Kukonki is not the only 16-year-old who has impressed the new head coach with Jim Thwaites also seen in senior training under the former Sporting Lisbon boss recently.
Interestingly, The Daily Mail have claimed academy wonderkid Amir Ibragimov is another who has caught the coach’s eye after his impressive display for the U21s against National League outfit Altrincham in the National League Cup.
Ibragimov impressing coaches
The way he physically outfought players way senior to him and his composure under pressure impressed onlookers including first-team coaches.
And it seems Amorim, who met him when he first arrived, also feels the teenager has a lot of potential with the coaching staff keeping a close watch on his progress.
“Ibragimov was among the first academy starlets to meet Amorim when he touched down for his first day in Manchester, and he is certainly on the radar of first-team coaches.
“Academy staff are eager to keep pushing players into higher age-groups and more stressful situations. In the case of Ibragimov, coaches were pleased to see him grow into a physical battle at Altrincham.”
The England U16 international has five goals and two assists this season and has played for the U19s in Europe while making two appearances for the reserves last term.
Future loan on the cards
Supporters have been hearing the highly-talented Russia-born star’s name for quite a long time now and they hype surrounding his future is real.
The report also mentioned that Ibragimov is in line for a loan in the future, not this January, with coaches eager to see how he can handle the pressure of playing senior football.
“Coaches are exploring which players will benefit from loans in January versus which players will dip in and out of first-team sessions and the next move for Ibragimov, who is expected to remain at United, is intriguing.”
Amorim’s penchant for trusting in youth should give academy stars a major boost knowing that should they keep performing, the coach will eventually turn to them.
Follow us on Bluesky: @peoplesperson.bsky.social
Ayantan Chowdhury
Ayantan has worked for 10 years in the Indian sports media industry, writing for the biggest newspapers and websites but his heart was always set on writing about his favourite club. Currently an editor at The Peoples Person. You can follow him on X: @ayantanc_25
