Manchester United defender Joe Riley has signed for League One side Bradford City on a two-year contract.
The 21-year-old captained the Under-23s last season and scored a memorable goal in the best performance of the campaign at that level, a 2-1 victory against Liverpool at Anfield.
After making two first-team appearances during Louis van Gaal's reign, against Shrewsbury Town and FC Midtjylland, Riley was loaned to Sheffield United in 2017 but suffered a serious shoulder injury in training which curtailed his progress.
The spell with the Blades does mean the full-back has a little experience of life in League One and he will look to help the Bantams mount another challenge for promotion.
✍️ We are delighted to announce the signing of Manchester United U23 captain @joeriley49 on an initial 2-year deal! 👊#BCAFC
— Bradford City AFC (@officialbantams) May 25, 2018
Read more here ➡️ https://t.co/K7okhdpUeW pic.twitter.com/drGvfAxt6Y
Speaking in an interview published by Bradford's official Twitter account, Riley explained why he is not concerned by the lack of a manager at his new club.
“This club, for me and a lot of people, is a Championship club and not a League One club,”
Joe says. “The vision of what the owners and the club have is what motivates me.
The fact that they don't have a head coach at this time does not worry me in any way because I want to come here and play. That is up to me, with how I work in training and games. It is all up to me at the end of the day, and how I perform will get me in the team-sheet come the weekend.
”“
Thankyou @ManUtd ❤️ pic.twitter.com/a1qGOYn4so
— Joe Riley (@joeriley49) May 25, 2018
Everybody at United would like to wish Joe the very best of luck for the future.
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