What’s the story?
Manchester United have completed the signing of highly promising former Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Aliou Badara Traore. The 16-year-old has been earmarked for great things and it represents a coup of sorts for the Premier League giants as both Juventus and Manchester City were interested in securing his services. Traore was spotted signing on the dotted line for Manchester United a few hours ago.
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The youngster is believed to have joined on a four-year contract which includes a year of playing with the Academy before moving up to the first team for three years from 2018-2021.
Also read: 5 players close to signing for Manchester United this summer
In case you didn’t know...
The talented youngster is considered the future of French football and his style of play has been likened to Paul Pogba. Having represented and captained France at the U-17 level, Traore first impressed United when he had a trial with them in February where he scored an impressive goal against a U-17 Burnley side.
Traore, who had been playing for PSG’s academy, left to join amateur side Sarcelles at the start of last season. His impressive performances there and in the trial have led to him being rewarded with a Manchester United contract.
The heart of the matter
Manchester United might have signed only Lindelof for the first team, but they have silently gone about investing in extremely promising youngsters for their academy. Traore is the latest to join a long list of youngsters which include Ethan Galbraith, Dishon Bernard, Arnau Puigmal and Largie Ramazani.
All these youngsters have been tipped to achieve great things in the future and Manchester United have certainly built an academy squad capable of providing first team stars for a long time to come.
Also read: Real Madrid forward Mariano signs for Ligue 1 giants Lyon
What’s next?
While the signing of these academy prospects have provided some cheer to United fans and Mourinho, the ‘special one’ will be desperate to complete his marquee signings like that of Alvaro Morata sooner rather than later.
Also, these players certainly have the capability to play at the very top level and care should be taken so that a situation like the one with Pogba (who left for Juventus and then came back in a world record transfer) does not arise in the future.
Author’s take
Aliou Badara Traore has shown glimpses of his enormous potential while playing for the PSG Academy and France U-17 team. A powerful presence at the centre of the field and technically gifted, Traore is a shrewd signing by Manchester United.
