Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim has shied away from throwing youngsters into the deep end owing to the precarious position the club finds itself in.
The Red Devils are languishing in 13th spot and the confidence of academy graduates could get knocked in case of a brutal defeat and hence, no academy debuts have followed in the aftermath of the Portuguese’s arrival.
But that does not mean the coach is not keeping a close watch on the academy with plenty of academy stars getting called up to training while Amorim himself has gone to watch certain academy games.
One area which is in need of a major revamp is the midfield with Casemiro and Christian Eriksen not really fitting with the 39-year-old’s intense demands and both are likely to leave either in January or latest, by next summer.
Kone has impressed coaches
Surprisingly, Kobbie Mainoo is now being linked with a shock exit owing to United’s PSR situation and that could leave Manuel Ugarte as the only starter left at the club.
Sekou Kone, a surprise acquisition from Guidars FC, has been touted by coaches as having the potential to thrive under Amorim and as per Givemesport, the ex-Sporting Lisbon boss is eager to see what the Malian can produce.
However, he will not fast-track him into the first team, and instead will see the youngster in action along with quite a few promising stars in pre-season.
“Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim is already taking an approach to promoting the club’s young talent, with a number of top-class youngsters having featured for the club in his reign as boss – and that could see prodigy Sekou Kone next on the conveyor belt.
“He’s yet to feature for United’s first-team, but whilst he’s shown a lot of promise, manager Amorim is keen to ease him into the action by avoiding a ‘fast-track’ for the physical midfielder.
Amorim will see him in pre-season
“The Malian midfielder is being ‘groomed’ as a future first-team player, and with the 18-year-old having made the move to the Premier League in the summer, he will get his chance to impress among the club’s stars in pre-season.”
The 20-time English league champions were forced to hijack Ajax’s deal to land the 18-year-old, dubbed the ‘next Yaya Toure‘ in the summer. Kone is primarily a defensive midfielder but can also play further forward.
He had caught everyone’s attention with his performances in the U17 World Cup where Mali finished third. He has already trained with the first team back when Erik ten Hag was in charge and was also named in United’s Premier League squad.
The Mali U17 international is currently injured and this break is helping him acclimatise to his new surroundings with both club and player happy with his development so far.
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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
