A former New York Red Bulls academy defender is wowing his coaches at Manchester United.
Matthew Olosunde, an 18-year-old from Trenton, New Jersey, signed with United in January and was officially announced as a Red Devil – and made his academy debut – after international clearance was received on March 11.
He currently plays for the club’s U-18s, and recently earned some high praise from United academy manager and former star Nicky Butt, who said that the club are “really excited about” the right/center back.
“He’s one that’s been ongoing for a while. With the clearance it took him a while but we’ve got him,” Butt told the club’s official website. “He’s a good player, a nice lad and a really good athlete. Hopefully we’ll see a lot of him in the coming years because he’s someone we’re really excited about.”
Olosunde (pictured above at right, with RBNY goalkeeper Luis Robles) also made it into the "Trickbox" feature on Man U's official website alongside the likes of Wayne Rooney this week, as the New Jersey product showed off some fancy footwork in the U-18s' demolition of their counterparts from Newcastle United.
Olosunde spent multiple years in the Red Bulls academy, but played a very limited number of games for the club in the 2013-14 and 2014-15 Developmental Academy seasons, instead choosing to spend most of his time at US Soccer’s residential program in Bradenton, Florida.
He and Tyler Adams reportedly met with the Red Bulls brass during the 2015 preseason, at which point Adams – now with the Red Bulls’ first-team – decided to sign with the club’s USL affiliate, New York Red Bulls II. It’s not known if Olosunde was offered any sort of deal by the Red Bulls or Red Bulls II. Either way, he stayed in Bradenton, playing with the US U-17s and first training with Manchester United during their summer tour of the States.
The 6-foot-1 Olosunde, who committed to play at Duke University this coming fall before signing with United, was a member of the US Under-17 team at the U-17 World Cup last fall and represented the US Under-20s at the Dallas Cup last month.
