Manchester United have completed the signing of Salford City defender Sadiq El Fitouri after a successful trial with the club.
The former Manchester City youngster only joined non-league Salford in December, but faced a trial at Carrington upon the recommendation of joint owners Paul Scholes and Phil Neville, two notorious figures at Old Trafford.
Plying this trade as a right-back, the 20-year-old competing in a game between Manchester United’s Under-21’s and a squad made of first-team fringe players. With Adnan Januzaj, Darren Fletcher and Victor Valdes all featuring, El Fitouri was the man who stood out.
Also impressing in training, the Red Devils staff members decided to offer the defender an 18-month deal, after Scholes and Neville were made aware of his talents in the Evo Stik Northern Premier League, featuring in a promising 2-1 victory against Kendall Town in early January.
It is highly unlikely he was immediately jump into the first-team set-up, and with the likes of Saidy Janko, Marnick Vermijl and Guillermo Varela on the books at the Theatre of Dreams, he may struggle to break into the side, despite manager van Gaal handing a number of youth prospects opportunities in the senior squad.
Nevertheless, he is expected to be an ever-present figure in the youth set-up, and will initially aim to impress youth team manager Warren Joyce.
Sadiq El Fitouri was released by Manchester City in the summer of 2014.