Manchester United have a number of talented young players on the books and one has been causing some excitement for a while now.
The name Amir Ibragimov has been doing the rounds in Manchester United academy circles for some time. And the hope has been that Ibragimov would get to a point where he turns hype into production.
Ibrahimov made his debut for Manchester United’s under-18s team when he was just 14.
And back in January, Ibragimov even made an under-21 appearance at the age of just 15.
But aside from those nominal appearances, essentially rewards for good progress, Ibragimov has been with the under-16 side, until now.
This season Ibragimov has become a fully fledged part of the under-18s side, and he is showing why the club have big faith in him.
Amir Ibragimov best game yet
Amir Ibragimov enjoyed his best game yet for Manchester United’s under-18s as he led the team to a 8-0 thrashing of Leeds at the weekend.
Ibragimov netted a hat-trick, alongside a James Scanlon treble, with Victor Musa and Bendito Mantato also on the scoresheet.
Ibragimov was recently named as United’s most promising young player in his age group, via The Guardian, and his performances are showing why.
Ibragimov is beginning to emerge as a leader in this team, a standout in an already talented group which have won eight of eight matches this season in the league, scoring 40 goals so far.
This season so far Ibragimov has five goals and three assists in all competitions. That’s eight goal contributions so far, and it’s quite possible he reaches 20.
Those five goals have come in eight league games, yet Ibragimov has only started three matches.
Ibragimov has played 90 minutes in each of the last two matches, and has scored four of his five goals in these games.
Part of the challenge for United’s decision-makers is to manage players’ minutes at academy level carefully, but Ibragimov is showing he needs to play, and will produce when he does.
What can we expect next from Ibragimov
Amir Ibragimov is at an important stage of his development which United’s coaches have been preparing for.
While they have known he was capable of playing under-18s football earlier, and he did, this is the season where he was always going to be targeted to establish himself as a regular.
United’s coaches won’t rush him. We can expect to see Ibragimov playing regularly for the 18s, in the UEFA Youth League too, and then potentially get some under-21 minutes in the second half of the season.
It’s possible new boss Ruben Amorim takes an immediate shine for him, but it’s more likely that if Ibragimov does step up to the first team quickly, it would be next season rather than this one.
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