Manchester United youngster Sonny Aljofree has been called up to first-team training at Carrington before their Premier League opener with Brighton on Sunday afternoon (2pm).
After being sworn in to replace Ole Gunnar Solskjaer on a permanent basis, Erik ten Hag will step into the dugout for his first competitive game as manager. His matchday squad is unlikely to feature too many surprises given that selection was consistent during pre-season friendlies in Thailand and Australia.
However, there is genuine hope moving forwards that Ten Hag will put faith into the next generation and several promising Academy graduates have played throughout the summer. Charlie Savage and Zidane Iqbal were among those to impress for United on tour.
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Closer to home, younger players from the age-group ranks have also been given priceless opportunities to mix it with returning superstar Cristiano Ronaldo and other big names in the United squad — and Aljofree got his big chance to do just that at Carrington on Thursday morning.
With all focus on Brighton, recently-appointed manager Ten Hag continues to fine tune his preparations for a first taste of the Premier League. Aljofree, 17, was pictured at the session and was naturally excited by the opportunity, uploading images to his Instagram profile.
Standing alongside Donny van de Beek and England defender Luke Shaw in those pictures, Aljofree added a short caption. It read 'always learning' and featured a fingers-crossed emoji.
Born in Plymouth, the promising centre-back was part of the Academy system last season and came off the bench during the historic FA Youth Cup triumph. Aljofree made 18 appearances in Premier League 2 last campaign and also played a UEFA Youth League game against Young Boys.
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