Almost a week after he landed in Manchester, Ruben Amorim conducted his first training session as the new Manchester United coach, yesterday. The 39-year-old and his staff had to wait because of work visa issues, before holding the first training at Carrington.
But, what caught the eye was the presence of a teenager in the first-team training. Godwill Kukonki, 16, who got his first taste of senior football on Monday primarily because of the absence of 14 first-team players who are away on international duty, is a product of the Manchester United academy, and has been working his way up the ranks.
Born in 2008 in Stoke, Kukonki has been a key member of the U-18 side, which has conceded only four goals in nine matches in the age-group Premier League, and has a 100 per cent winning record so far. He scored his first U-18 goal in United's recent 9-0 win against Blackburn Rovers.
He broke into the U-21 side last month, making his debut against Forest Green Rovers.
The left-footed defender can operate as a centre-back or left-back, and at 6'5'', Kukonki has the physicality to match his skills. It augurs well for Amorim's style of play—he employs the 3-4-3 format usually, which calls for agile and physical defenders in the backline. Also, more defenders will get an opportunity to play at the centre-back position in Amorim's formation, and currently, United have only two left-footed senior players capable of playing in that position—Lisandro Martinez and Luke Shaw.
The 39-year-old has promoted talented teenagers to the top tier in the past—at Sporting Lisbon, Geovany Quenda, 17, made his senior team debut under Amorim (interestingly, there are reports linking him to a move to Manchester United).
For all we know, Kukonki's presence in the training session would have been only to make up the numbers. But, it would not be surprising if Amorim fast-tracks the talented teenager into the senior team soon, especially given the club's reduced transfer budget, which will make the new manager rely more on Academy's talented youngsters.