6ft 5, left footed – Who is Godwill Kukonki? 16yo starlet Ruben Amorim’s promoted at Man Utd

Ruben Amorim led his first training session as Manchester United head coach on Monday and 16-year-old starlet Godwill Kukonki took part with the squad.

Manchester United’s new head coach Ruben Amorim started his role last Monday but had to wait until the beginning of this week to start training on the grass.

The 39-year-old and his coaching staff had to wait for their visa approvals, which has since been completed.

During his first session at Carrington, Amorim had a new face involved from the ever-producing Academy at the club.

According to the Manchester Evening News, 16-year-old starlet Godwill Kukonki was involved in the first-team training for Amorim’s first day on the grass.

Kukonki, born in February 2008, has been making his way through the youth setup at United and recently made his debut for the club’s under-21s side against Forest Green Rovers.

The left-footed defender, who can operate as a centre-back or left-back, has had an impressive start to the season, playing eight out of the nine league fixtures for the under-18s, who are yet to drop points in a league fixture so far this term.

Kukonki assisted during the team’s 2-0 win over Liverpool earlier in the campaign and scored his first U18s goal in the 9-0 drubbing of Blackburn Rovers.

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Despite his age, the English defender already stands at a frightening 6ft 5ins, which makes it understandable why he is already competing with United’s first-team players in training.

It is important to note that youth players regularly go up and down for first-team training. Sometimes they are needed to add up the numbers for drills while other times it is simply a case of not rushing their development.

However, it is hard to argue that a left-footed defender with the strength and power that Kukonki possesses wouldn’t be an attraction to Amorim, who operates with a three-at-the-back system which needs athletic and physical defenders.

The Portuguese manager was never shy to use to the Academy at Sporting. For example, Geovany Quenda made his debut for Amorim at 17 years of age and is already being linked with an Old Trafford move.

Kukonki will continue to try and impress in the Academy teams while getting as much first-team training action as possible, and he will be one of many talents to keep an eye out for.

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