Nick Powell - Feet Like Ronaldo!

Nick Powell will surprise Manchester United fans next season, says United coach Colin Little.

Wythenshawe lad Little is best known locally as an Altrincham legend and all time leading goalscorer from his six years spent at Moss Lane.

For the last two seasons, Little has been coaching the Manchester United under-13 side and is set to take the Reds’ under-16s next season.

The 39-year-old honed his talents at Crewe where he came under the guidance of revered Alex boss Dario Gradi as a player between 1996 and 2003 before moving into a coaching role there.

Little, who began his career at Hyde United before being spotted by Gradi, learned his coaching trade at Gresty Road and was in charge of Powell’s progress at the under-14 and under-15 level with the Railwaymen.

And he says the education 18-year-old goalscoring midfielder had in his formative years at Crewe is an ideal preparation for the challenge ahead at Old Trafford.

“I see some of the talent at United that I coach now and I come away every day buzzing because it is a pleasure to see another great crop of players developing,” Little said.

“I have a smile on my face when I return home after training after seeing what they can do and that’s how I felt when I used to see Nick as a 13-year-old.”

“It sounds mad but some of the things he was doing with a ball was stuff that I used to watch Cristiano Ronaldo doing for United. He had feet like Ronaldo.”

“A lot of people will only have seen little clips of what Nick can do from the TV but that is nothing to what I have seen him do in training. He was doing stuff I’d not seen others do before.”