Bendito Mantato is among the Manchester United youngsters looking to force their way into the club’s pre-season plans against Leeds United on Saturday.
The United squad has been back at Carrington for two weeks and are in action in Stockholm taking on one of their old rivals in their first game of the summer tomorrow afternoon.
Matheus Cunha, signed from Wolves for £62million, will be part of the squad along with Diego Leon, the 18-year-old left-back who is United’s only other new arrival.
United are finally on the brink of signing Bryan Mbeumo after a third bid was accepted on Friday.
After the weekend game against Leeds, United fly out to the United States for their pre-season tour with games against West Ham United, Bournemouth and Everton.
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Ruben Amorim will bring a small squad with him Stade-side, with the head coach planning to work with a similar sized group next season given the lack of European football on the calendar.
With places in the squad up for grabs, a clutch of United youngsters including Shea Lacey and Sekou Kone are eager to secure their places on the tour along with 17-year-old Mantato.
The England-17 international has played the majority of his football on the right of attack, scoring seven goals in 11 Under-18 Premier League appearances last term.
The Athletic report he has featured the most prominently among United’s young stars in training sessions this month, regularly deployed in a wing-back role.
Injuries, suspensions and a generally thin squad meant Amorim was often short of options last season in the wing-back roles which are so vital to his system.
Diogo Dalot and Patrick Dorgu were his first-choice options, supported by the versatile Noussair Mazraoui and Harry Amass during the second-half of last term.
Reports in March suggested Amorim was strongly considering given Mantato his senior debut. While he made the bench for the Europa League semi-final games against Athletic Bilbao, his is still waiting for his first-team bow.
Mantato has drawn early comparisons with Arsenal star Bukayo Saka. Like Saka, Mantato previously played at left-back for United’s academy side before progressing into a more advanced role on the right.
As a winger by trade, there are also comparisons with Sporting CP star Geovany Quenda. The Portuguese teenager, who will join Chelsea next year, was brought into the senior team by Amorim during his time in the Portuguese capital, starring in the wing-back role.
Five players who certainly won’t be involved on Saturday are Marcus Rashford, Alejandro Garnacho, Jadon Sancho, Antony and Tyrell Malacia.
