How Shoretire could make United history in Turin
Shola Shoretire will become the youngest player to represent Manchester United in European competition, if he makes his debut in the Europa League tie against Real Sociedad.
The forward only turned 17 earlier this month and recently signed his first professional contract with his boyhood club.
After being named in a 22-man squad for the trip to Turin, the homegrown Academy product will hope to get a taste of the action at the Allianz Stadium in the first leg of the round-of-32 encounter.
Europa League ready
GallerySee which Reds trained on Wednesday morning, before the flight to Italy.
According to our research, Shoretire would replace Norman Whiteside as the youngest-ever Red to appear in a European game.
The Northern Irishman was 17 years and four months old when playing in a goalless draw against Valencia in the UEFA Cup at Old Trafford in 1982, after becoming the youngest player at a World Cup finals earlier that year.
Mason Greenwood, who is our most youthful scorer in Europe following his maiden senior strike against Astana in 2018, is second only to Whiteside at the moment, with Gary Neville, who made a cameo appearance against Torpedo Moscow in 1992, in third spot.
David Sadler, Regan Poole, George Best, Gerard Pique, Ryan Giggs and Mads Timm are others who competed in Europe for the club before their 18th birthday.
Shoretire previously made history in Europe by becoming the youngest-ever player to appear in the UEFA Youth League.
He was still only 14 when coming on as a substitute for Nicky Butt's Under-19s side in a 2-1 away win at Valencia in December 2018. Shola replaced Nishan Burkart, who had scored one of the goals, for the final 15 minutes in Spain to break a record previously held by Benfica keeper Mile Svilar.