“I understand the concern…” – Sekou Kone makes mature Man Utd claim that fans will love

Manchester United midfield talent Sekou Kone joined the club in the summer and has been working hard in the Academy setup.

Sekou Kone was a surprise deadline day signing for Manchester United last summer, with the 18-year-old joining from Guidars FC for around £1 million.

It was a signing which excited United supporters despite most of them knowing very little about the Mali youth international.

He was one of the standout players during the U17s World Cup in 2023 and had been scouted by United, but it is the kind of signing that the Reds had missed out on so many times in the past.

United are being careful with Kone

With minimal risk and huge potential rewards, Kone could end up being a great player at Old Trafford but has had a slow start to his career in England.

That is mostly by design, however, with those at United conscious of the huge changes happening in Kone’s life after moving from his home country Mali.

He has been given the chance to learn his new surroundings in Manchester and make friends with others in the Academy. The 18-year-old was also given time to complete his own pre-season.

Kone made a handful of appearances for the Under-21s and impressed coaches before an injury issue interrupted his campaign. It is not believed to be a serious problem but United are understandably being careful.

It’s easy to forget that Kone was playing at a much lower level of football in his home country, and so he also needs time to adapt to the competitiveness of English youth football.

Kone addresses lack of first-team involvement

Reports have suggested that Kone will be fast-tracked into the first-team training this season but as things stand the teenager has had minimal involvement with Ruben Amorim’s squad at Carrington.

Despite being a high potential player, Kone is ‘not worried at all’ about this and believes that his time will come to progress through the ranks.

The youngster also expressed his happiness that first-team head coach Amorim ‘loves youngsters’ and is a ‘believer in the beautiful game’.

Speaking in his first public interview since joining the club, Kone was asked by Africa Foot about his lack of first-team involvement so far.

“I understand the concern about my short-term future but I’m not worried about it at all,” he quickly responded.

Read More: “Something is happening…” – Fabrizio Romano surprised by Man Utd update he received from agent

“A lot of youngsters have been launched like CR7, [Marcus] Rashford and most recently [Kobbie] Mainoo and the new manager is a believer in the beautiful game, he loves youngsters too.

“I just have to work really hard and take my chance when it comes.”

It is a very mature comment from the Mali youth talent and United fans will be eager to see when he does finally get those chances at Old Trafford.

Make sure to follow UtdDistrict on X, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok to never miss out on any of our Manchester United content. Our podcast, What the Devil?, is released every Wednesday at 6 pm (BST) on the United View YouTube channel.