Ruben Amorim boasts a promising crop of youngsters at Man Utd (Image: Getty)
are trialling a talented teenager whose coach is willing to stake his entire career on him making it as a professional. The Red Devils were nearly beaten to the punch by a rival suitor, but promises were kept to allow and youth team staff to cast their eye over the youngster at Carrington.
United have set about boosting their stable of up-and-coming stars since INEOS bought into the club last year. Teenagers Leny Yoro, Ayden Heaven, , Diego Leon and Sekou Kone are among those to have been snapped up since, and 15-year-old Glen Ilunga could be the next in line.
The central defender has caught the eye during his time with AR Elite – an academy geared towards finding professional clubs for promising young players. One performance against Hull City’s Under-18 team – three years above Ilunga’s age group – prompted the Tigers to try and sign him up on the spot, according to AR Elite coach Abdelghany Ramadan.
But he had already promised United that they could take Ilunga on trial, and he has spent the past week at Carrington. Ramadan is convinced that Ilunga can become their next academy star.
“The kid is absolutely unreal,” he told . “I promise you, in three years’ time, if he doesn’t make it I’m quitting football, that’s how much I rate him.
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“We’ve had a lot of players come through our academy and honestly, remember this call. He played against Hull City U18s for AR Elite around a week ago and Hull City staff literally pulled out pen and paper after that game and said ‘We’ll offer him a pre-scholar deal right now, what do you want? We’ll give you anything you want’.
“We had to tell them we’d given our word to United, we can’t do that. I work with a lot of professionals one-to-one and I promise you the kid is unreal.”
Ilunga only joined AR Elite in October, but he quickly caught the eye as a central defender who is comfortable on the ball, physical, dominant in the air and a natural leader.
Although Ilunga would be at least a couple of years away from senior contention even if United do sign him up, Amorim has shown a willingness to put faith in young players during his brief time at Old Trafford.
Heaven, Obi and Yoro all featured against Fulham last time out, and there could be room for other prospects against Real Sociedad on Thursday night.
Chido Obi, 17, has been given first-team opportunities since signing for Man Utd (Image: Getty)