Chido Obi and Sekou Kone have both been included in Manchester United’s travelling squad for their Europa League clash against Athletic Bilbao.
Manchester United are set to play their most important games of the season in the coming week with their two-legged Europa League semi-final against Athletic Bilbao coming up.
The Reds travel to Spain for the opening tie before hosting the second-leg at Old Trafford next Thursday.
Ruben Amorim’s travelling squad for the first game was confirmed on Wednesday afternoon, with Amad and Matthijs de Ligt both included.
It was also interesting to note that Sekou Kone and Chido Obi were listed among those travelling despite the fact neither are eligible to play in the Europa League.
United have not included either of them in their A-list for the competition and since they both joined the club in the last year, they cannot be included through the B-list.
Why Obi and Kone are in United squad vs Bilbao
Amorim has taken 26 players to Spain which is significantly more than usual and it is because the team are planning on staying in Bilbao overnight.
Instead of returning to Manchester in the early hours of Friday, the squad will stay and have a training session on Friday morning before coming back to England later that day.
“A larger group has been selected as there is due to be a session locally on Friday morning, which will feature youngsters, including Chido Obi and Sekou Kone, who are not eligible to play in the Europa League,” the club wrote on their website.
Other youngsters such as Bendito Mantato and Tyler Fredricson have also travelled but they could both theoretically play in the game against Bilbao through the B-list.
Reporters have suggested that it is likely Obi and Kone will have some sort of involvement against Brentford on Sunday afternoon.
United youth involvement vs Brentford would be good
It would be great to see both Kone and Obi get some action on the pitch when the Reds travel to the capital on the weekend.
Obi has already made several appearances and looking promising in almost all of them. He could make his very first start on the weekend.
Meanwhile, Kone is yet to appear for the first-team but has been making positive strides since his arrival last summer from Mali-based club Guidars FC.
The 19-year-old has not been fast-tracked and the club have taken care with his integration, but it is becoming clear that he’s getting closer to being ready for his debut.
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With the Brentford game sandwiching the two semi-final clashes with Bilbao, it is understandable that Amorim wants to have a bigger squad with him in Spain so he’s ready for several changes to the team on the weekend.
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