Traore signs first pro contract at United
Manchester United is delighted to announce that exciting prospect Aliou Traore has signed his first professional contract at the club, just a month after officially joining the Academy.
The 17-year-old midfielder, who celebrated his birthday on Monday, has been training with the Reds since the pre-season trip to Austria last summer but only officially joined as a youth player on 3 December.
Now, having impressed his coaches, the former Paris Saint-Germain youngster has been rewarded with a professional contract as a United player and the future looks bright for the Frenchman.
Head of Academy Nicky Butt told ManUtd.com: "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."
“Aliou is a tremendously gifted young player and we are all delighted to see him sign his first professional contract at Manchester United."
"Traore is a really powerful midfielder who likes to run from box to box. He is very strong technically and is improving all the time."
Traore is just the latest Academy prospect to sign a professional contract in recent months, following on from recent first-team debutant Angel Gomes putting pen to paper back in mid-December.
Gomes was followed by promising goalkeeper Kieran O’Hara, who has this week travelled to Dubai with Jose Mourinho’s first team for a warm-weather training camp in the Middle East. Aidan Barlow, a 17-year-old forward with an eye for goal, also inked a pro deal just days before Christmas.
The aim, as ever, is for these talented young players to eventually graduate into the senior squad at Old Trafford and follow in the accomplished footsteps of current first-teamers Joel Pereira, Axel Tuanzebe, Scott McTominay, Jesse Lingard and Marcus Rashford.
WATCH TRAORE IN ACTION
The Under-18s, managed by Kieran McKenna, are in action against Sunderland this coming Saturday and MUTV subscribers can watch the match live from 13:30 GMT.