Manchester United have reportedly sent scouts to multiple Yeelen Olympique games to scout a young African talent.
Manchester United are already deep into scouting players in preparation for the 2025 summer transfer window, when the club will be looking to bring in multiple players to fit new manager Ruben Amorim’s system.
Since taking over the footballing activities of the club, Sir Jim Ratcliffe and the new technical staff have made numerous moves for young up and coming talents that cost less than more established players.
In the summer, United saw Arsenal youth academy striker Chido Obi brought in alongside Malian midfielder Sekou Kone. A deal was also agreed in advance to bring in Paraguayan full-back Diego Leon in the 2025 summer transfer window.
January saw United once again target youth as they brought in another Arsenal youngster in Ayden Heaven, whose appearances for the first team have demonstrated the viability of this approach.
Reports now indicate that United are sticking with this transfer strategy as they have been repeatedly scouting a promising young talent from the Malian league.
Manchester United scout Coulibaly
Reports from Africa Foot have stated that Manchester United are scouting 16-year-old winger Soungalo Coulibaly from the Malian 2nd division. Coulibaly has featured for Yeelen Olympique and the Mali U-17 national side this season.
Coulibaly plays on the left wing and with Marcus Rashford and Antony looking likely to depart the club this summer he could fill a hole in Amorims squad.
Sports Witness have reported that if United were to sign Coulibaly, he would not be able to join the club until he turns 18 in May 2026 and has received a UK work permit.
It is not just United who have been keeping tabs on the winger with reports of Sturm Graz, Tottenham and crucially RB Salzburg showing interest.
Manchester United, Vivell and Mali
Although Coulibaly is not a well known name in the UK there are a number of reasons this could evolve from scouting reports to an actual transfer.
Firstly United have already shown a recent interest in young talent and a left sided forward will be high on their transfer target lift. In recent weeks the club has been linked with numerous players in that position.
Although only recently drawing attention from the Premier League, Coulibaly has been on the radar of Austrian clubs all season and in October Africa Foot reported that RB Salzburg and Strum Graz had been monitoring Coulibaly’s development ahead of a potential approach for the player.
RB Salzburg and the Red Bull Football Network have an extensive history with the Malian league. At least seven different players of Malian nationality have featured across four of their clubs this season alone. This interest in Mali came when Christopher Vivell was prominent in varying recruitment and scouting roles across the multi-club network.
The most significant success from Red Bull’s current crop of Malians is RB Leipzig’s Amadou Haidara, who joined the Red Bull system in 2016 and has gone on to make 42 Champions League appearances.
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In July 2024, Vivell was among those brought in to United as part of the new leadership team, where he is operating as Director of Recruitment. Given his extensive history scouting the Malian league, Vivell’s arrival at United was likely crucial in the Koné transfer.
Evidently, Vivell has taken this interest in Mali as a talent pool with him from his previous work in the Red Bull system, and it could be an indication that Coulibaly is a Manchester United target.
Coulibaly fits the age profile, plays in a position that United lacks, and is from an area that Vivell favours for scouting. This is certainly a story that could develop over the coming months.
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