Ruben Amorim has taken a real shine to Godwill Kukonki. This will have other talented Manchester United academy stars hopeful they will also earn his affection.
Adam Lawrence’s U18 Manchester United side has been rampant this season, winning every single game in the U18 Premier League.
The most recent was last weekend’s 3-0 win over Stoke – which saw Godwill Kukonki start for the academy side.
Kukonki has been the academy’s biggest winner thus far in the reign of Ruben Amorim, making multiple match-day squads and even being on the bench at the Emirates on Wednesday.
16-year-old Kukonki has been praised on MUTV for doing “fantastically well in training”, which is surely why he has been closest to being Amorim’s first breakout star.
Ruben Amorim sends a message to Chido Obi-Martin and Amir Ibragimov
So with Kukonki impressing Amorim, the 39-year-old head coach has also told other academy talents exactly how they can follow in Kukonki’s footsteps.
“He’s 16,” said the head coach to MUTV before the Arsenal game.
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“But he impressed me a lot, so it’s also a sign to the youth players that they can be here.
“If something happened with the first-team squad, they have to step up and I think he’s ready, he’s very adult to handle the demands of the Premier League.”
This is high praise for Kukonki who has the perfect blend of physical and technical qualities which explains why Amorim is so keen to integrate the teenager.
However, within this praise of Kukonki is a message to the likes of Chido Obi-Martin and Amir Ibragimov who will be keen to be next to make the leap up.
Manchester United have an incredible selection of youngsters
Despite not using the youth in his opening four games as the head coach at United, Amorim will surely be aware of the sheer amount of talent currently in the ranks at the club.
Obi-Martin and Ibragimov are two of the very best at U18 level and have a combined 21 goal contributions in only a handful of games this season.
READ: Man Utd under-18s top scorers and assists in 2024/25, all results
These two along with Gabriele Biancheri in particular are really knocking on the door for first-team involvement – with Ibragimov targetting his debut in the 2024/25 season.
Now, that the gauntlet has been laid down by Amorim, he wants the youngsters to act like professionals and also develop physically, which should be the target for this trio heading into the new year.
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