Two Man United wonderkids in contention to make Europa League squad after impressing Ruben Amorim

Add as preferred source on Google

Ruben Amorim is already showing faith in Manchester United’s young stars.

Manchester United’s head coach has a fantastic record when it comes to developing young players with Ruben Amorim giving 27 debuts to academy players while in charge of Sporting.

Since Amorim’s arrival at Carrington, he has made it clear that he wants the club to focus on developing young players through the academy, with the Portuguese boss willing to give them a chance in the first team.

He has already stuck to his word with Godwill Kukonki included in the squad vs Ipswich. The 16-year-old defender was included in Amorim’s first training session and looks to have a bright future under him.

After drawing 1-1 with Ipswich in Amorim’s first game, next up for United’s new boss is his first home match against Bodo/Glimt in the Europa League.

Ruben Amorim faces centre-back problem at Man United

Changes are expected on Thursday night when United face Bodo/Glimt after Amorim was frustrated on the sidelines against Ipswich.

He has now had more training sessions with a full squad and will have a better grasp of his players, including those in the academy.

One big issue facing Ruben Amorim is the lack of centre-backs available to slot into his 3-4-3 system.

Noussair Mazraoui starred at centre-back against Ipswich but ideally he would move out to right wing-back when possible.

Jonny Evans struggled to keep up with the intensity and speed that Amorim demands of his centre-backs, but there are very few options for him to pick from with Harry Maguire, Lisandro Martinez and Victor Lindelof all out injured.

As a result, Amorim has turned to two youngsters.

Jack Kingdon and Godwill Kukonki could be included vs Bodo/Glimt

According to Manchester Evening News, Godwill Kukonki and academy teammate Jack Kingdon are both in contention to be included in the matchday squad on Thursday.

19-year-old Kingdon recently trained with Sir Jim Ratcliffe-owned FC Lausanne-Sport and has been included in several first-team training sessions, including under Amorim.

READ MORE: Ineos add two new ‘best-in-class’ staff to accelerate youth revolution at Man Utd

Kingdon was spotted training ahead of the PAOK clash earlier this month but was not included in the squad.

Kukonki and Kingdon are not on United’s Europa League B List, but clubs are allowed to register an unlimited number of players providing they meet the criteria of being under 21 years of age.