There’s quite a bit of saccharine in this perfect PR story, but it’s a cool tale nonetheless.
Salford City is a small semi-pro club in Greater Manchester, and its had a player plucked from its ranks to join giant Manchester United on an 18-month deal.
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It’d be an incredible story if not for a bit of skepticism that comes from the knowledge that Salford City is 50-percent owned by five of the more important modern names in Manchester United history: Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs, Nicky Butt, Gary Neville and Phil Neville.
Still, cheers to 20-year-old Libyan defender Sadiq El Fitouri, who joins the Red Devils after impressing in a friendly against United this week. He’s only been with Salford City for three weeks, so it bears looking into his journey to Manchester.
From the ManchesterEveningNews:
Phil Neville said: “We are immensely proud that our club has been able to give an opportunity to a boy who had the determination and passion to play without necessarily having the chances.
“What we are trying to do at Salford is to develop our own talent, nurture players and keep them at the club, however we also recognise that we cannot stand in the way of talented players playing at the highest level and that can only be a credit to how SCFC is progressing”
Scholes added: “Our firm belief is that we want to make a difference and whilst we are only 6 months in we have established already, in this one moment, that we are able to help promote and project young people and give them a chance.
“A chance that we were given ourselves.”
El Fitourri will join United’s U-21 side, so there’s no real risk here from Manchester United. But if he becomes a name in the game, you can point back to this post and tell me how jaded I’ve become.
