‘He is tremendously gifted’: So who is Aliou Traore, the man who has signed Man Utd deal?

MANCHESTER UNITED have announced the signing of Aliou Traore – but who is he?
It was revealed on Tuesday that Traore has penned his first pro contract at the club, a month after officially joining the Academy.

Traore is a midfielder who only celebrated his 17th birthday on Monday.

He has been training with the Reds since the pre-season trip to Austria last summer but only officially joined as a youth player on December 3.

United haven’t waited long to het him on a pro deal. They can’t be signed before the age of 17 but 24 hours after his birthday, the deal was done.

He has been hailed by academy director Nicky Butt who said: “Aliou is a tremendously gifted young player and we are all delighted to see him sign his first professional contract at Manchester United.
“Aliou will naturally need time to adapt, but he has an exciting future ahead of him and we are all looking forward to seeing his performances for the Under-18s in the second half of this season.”

Traore, who was born in Sarcelles in France, grew up playing for PSG and is capped at international level.

He has played seven times for France Under-16s, scoring two goals.

Traore made his United Under-18 debut last month against Wolves in the Premier League Cup. He then played 68 minute in a 2-2 draw with Liverpool in the U18 Premier League.




U18s coach Kieran McKenna told MUTV after his debut: “Traore is a boy we’ve been looking at for a while.
“He is a really powerful midfielder who likes to run box to box. He is very strong technically and is improving all the time.

“He’s a nice man and his English is improving. He’s settling in well with the boys and has taken to the club really well.”

Traore has previously interested Juventus but Manchester United have won the race to snap him up.

He joins Angel Gomes and Aidan Barlow in signing professional contracts at the club.

Source:www.express.co.uk