Manchester United have taken a promising young striker on trial.
18-year-old Devon Arnold is attempting to win a contract, and has got off to a positive start.
Arnold featured for the under-23s on Tuesday in a victory against Stoke City.
He made a good impression by scoring the winning goal, and posted to his Instagram story to celebrate, wearing his United training gear.
Who is Devon Arnold?
Arnold is 18-years-old and has one first team appearance under his belt, for Yeovil Town.
This came as a substitute in a League Two match against Cheltenham back in January 2019. In doing so at just 17, he broke the record to become Yeovil’s youngest ever league player.
Arnold is a free agent. On his own personal website he says: “I’m a very quick and energetic No 9 and lead teams from the frontline. Out and out striker and I’m ruthless in front of goal.”
He adds that he hates losing, and says his pace and strong work rate are among his key assets.
He told MTAG Football earlier this year: “I’m still learning the game and I’m always watching the top strikers such as Aguero and Kane or someone I feel I’m much more similar to in terms of my playing style such as Jamie Vardy.
“I look to get in behind with pace and aggression and look to be very direct in getting towards goal because at the end of the day all I want to do is score goals.”
Can he make an impact at United?
It has become apparent that United lack strikers for the under-23 team at present, after Mason Greenwood’s rapid rise to the first team, and D’Mani Mellor’s unfortunate ACL injury suffered earlier this month.
United have several under-18 forwards, Mateo Mejia, Dillon Hoogewerf, Joe Hugill, Noam Emeran and Deji Sotona, but it is unclear how ready they are for regular under-23 football.
For this season, United were promoted to the top flight of the under-23 rung, and it is important to have a goalscorer in the team, in case none of the under-18 talents are quite ready, or to simply share the workload.
This is where Arnold could fit in, even just as a stop-gap, while giving him the platform to shine and try to make a name for himself.
His trial appears to have got off to a very good start, and even if a deal at United is not forthcoming, this is a good experience for him. It may of course be the start of something special.
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