Manchester United’s latest signing Enzo Kana-Biyik made his debut for Lausanne-Sport on Saturday after being loaned to the INEOS-owned club.
Manchester United confirmed the signing of talented young striker Enzo Kana-Biyik from Le Havre earlier this week, following a standout season with their under-19s.
He joins a strong crop of academy forwards, including Gabriele Biancheri and Chido Obi, as part of United’s renewed focus on youth under Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s revamped recruitment, led by Jason Wilcox and Christopher Vivell.
Other recent additions include defender Harley Emsden-James from Southampton and Paraguayan prospect Diego Leon.
Kana-Biyik has become the first academy starlet to head out on loan, joining INEOS-owned Lausanne-Sport in Switzerland immediately after he was announced as a new signing.
Despite only spending a couple of days with his new club, the United youngster has made his unofficial debut for Lausanne during a pre-season friendly on Saturday afternoon.
How Kana-Biyik performed on Lausanne-Sport debut
Lausanne began their pre-season towards the end of last month as they are competing in Europa Conference League qualifiers later in July.
They continued their preparations with a friendly game against Étoile Carouge, who play in the second division of Swiss football, on Saturday morning.
The game came just two days after Kana-Biyik signed for the INEOS-owned side on loan but he was chosen to start the clash and played 45 minutes.
Lausanne won the game 4-2 and they were 3-0 up at half-time, which is when the United loanee was understandably substituted by manager Ludovic Magnin.
The performance of Kana-Biyik was described as ‘quiet but promising’ as he offered ‘great desire’ in his play even though he was unlikely to be fully fit with a limited amount of training time.
Lausanne supporter Adrien Imfeld, who runs a fan-page for the Swiss club, was in attendance for the game which was not being broadcast on television.
“Enzo Kana-Biyik played one half today. He didn’t have many opportunities to shine, but he showed good intentions in his movement and a great desire. It was a quiet but promising debut,” he exclusively told UtdDistrict.
United could also loan Kone to Lausanne-Sport
Kana-Biyik will be aiming to play as much football as possible next season in order to push his way closer to the United first-team when he returns.
In terms of his official Lausanne debut, Kana-Biyik could play in their Europa Conference League qualifier against the winner of La Fiorita and FK Vardar Skopje on 24 July and highlights of that game will be showcased on TNT Sports.
He could also soon be joined by another exciting United talent in Switzerland too, as United look to take advantage of the multi-club model.
Sekou Kone stood out for the Under-21s last season and also made a positive impression when he appeared for the first-team during the post-season tour of Asia.
He has been linked with a loan move to Lausanne by several different reports although some United fans would like to see the midfielder remain at Old Trafford and fight for a place in the first-team.
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