Rotherham United manager gives verdict on former Manchester United player after trial debut

Sonny Aljofree has joined Rotherham United on trial following his release from Manchester United at the end of the 2025/26 campaign. Aljofree came through the ranks of the Manchester United academy and spent 14 years at his boyhood club before departing earlier this summer upon the expiry of his contract. The centre-back is now fighting for a new contract elsewhere, with League Two club Rotherham United keen to have a closer look at him. The Rotherham Advertiser revealed that manager Alex Bruce, the son of former Manchester United player Steve Bruce, said about Aljofree, “he’s a young lad who I’ve known for a while, we’re just having a look at him as well.” New beginnings Aljofree never made his competitive senior debut while at Manchester United but did feature on the pre-season tours in 2023 and 2024. Loan spells followed with varying success. First, a loan at Accrington Stanley saw the youngster become a key figure in saving the club from relegation. Aljofree played 25 league matches and even chipped in with three goals. Last season’s loan to Notts County was not as fruitful, though. The 21-year-old started the first eight league matches of their campaign before finding himself out of the side and eventually had his loan cut short in January. Aljofree has already featured for Rotherham in their friendly with Matlock Town at the weekend. The Rotherham Advertiser rated his performance a 6/10, saying “the young man can be pleased with his debut outing. Played at right-back in the first half and at centre-half in the second and was solid throughout. He’s a big lad.” United connection Rotherham’s manager is not the only Manchester United connection at the League Two club; another trialist they are taking a close look at is former Manchester United academy graduate Brandon Williams. The full-back also featured against Matlock Town but does not seem to have made a good impression so far, receiving a 5/10 rating described as “hasn’t yet lived up to his stellar pedigree while wearing a Rotherham shirt.” Manchester United’s Dan Gore also spent the last season and a half on loan at Rotherham, where he found his footing after an initial injury and swept up the player of the year award last season. Gore has since returned to Manchester United and featured in the first pre-season match, where he impressed in the second half against Wrexham. Aljofree will now be hoping he can follow in the path of Gore and have a successful period at the League Two club. Feature image Nathan Stirk via Getty Images The Peoples Person has been one of the world’s leading Man United news sites for over a decade. Follow us on Bluesky: @peoplesperson.bsky.social 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. You can follow him X: RedYouthUnited.