Manchester United sent two youngsters to spend time with Doncaster Rovers earlier this month.
United have developed a healthy relationship with Doncaster over the last few years and sent Finley McAllister and Malachi Sharpe to spend time with the South Yorkshire club. The academy pair were sent to Doncaster as part of the ‘Pro Experience Programme’, which gives youngsters the opportunity to take part in first-team training away from United.
Former academy midfielder Maxi Oyedele trained with Doncaster’s first-team as part of the same initiative in October 2022. The experience was considered valuable for Oyedele’s development and he made his debut for Poland’s national team after leaving United this summer.
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McAllister and Sharpe, both 18, were seen as two youngsters who would benefit from the opportunity to train with Doncaster and also featured in a behind-closed-doors friendly.
Doncaster manager Grant McCann spoke to the Doncaster Free Press about the arrangement and said: “We’ve had a couple of boys in this week from Man United. They’ve been training with us and that’s been really good, just to have a look at them. We also sent two to Man United.
“It’s about forming a relationship with them which is great and there’s other clubs that want to do that as well and that speaks volumes about how we’re playing and performing.
“It’s really good to have a chance to look at things like this. They’re two of Man United’s better U21 players and they both played in the game [behind-closed-doors] and were both excellent.
“One’s a wide player [Sharpe] and the other is a midfielder [McAllister].Travis [Binnion] has been brilliant with us and the fact we’ve managed to get Kasper and Sam in there is great, to show them what a Premier League club looks like but also to see they work and train and deliver sessions.
“It’s been a worthwhile week and having that link with one of the biggest clubs in the world is huge. If you’re a young player at Man United then you’ve got everything there. They have the best training ground, the best pitches, best food. Everything is just laid on for you.
“I remember when they came to us [EFL Trophy group game] wearing brand new Hugo Boss suits. We’re in our tracksuits, so it’s just a different world. But coming here gives them an insight into what it means to win three points as opposed to U21 football where it doesn’t really matter. It’s a huge thing.”
United continue to take advantage of the Pro Experience Programme and struck another agreement with Sir Jim Ratcliffe-owned FC Lausanne-Sport in the last international break.
Habeeb Ogunneye, Jack Kingdon and Ethan Williams flew to Switzerland to train with Lausanne and the three youngsters received the opportunity to train with their first team.
Ineos acquired Lausanne in 2017 and the agreement between the Swiss side and United to give academy players an overseas experience was a benefit of their multi-club model.
