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Former Manchester United academy graduate Shole Shoretire has “landed in Greece to sign” a contract with Panathinaikos, Fabrizio Romano has confirmed.
Shoretire, 20, departed Old Trafford at the end of last season when his contract with his boyhood club expired. He had joined the United youth set-up when he was just nine years old.
The youngster quickly established himself as one of the most talented prospects in the academy, frequently playing a year up from his age bracket. He was handed his debut for the U23s at just 16 after impressing coach Neil Wood in 2020.
Shoretire signed his first professional contract with United in February 2021 – just a week after turning 17. Three weeks later he would make his first-team debut for the club in a 3-1 win over Newcastle at Old Trafford.
Within the same week, the forward would write himself into the history books for the Red Devils as he became the club’s youngest ever player to make an appearance in European competition, coming on as a substitute against Real Sociedad in the Europa League.
Shoretire would cap off this record-breaking season by winning the Jimmy Murphy Young Player of the Year award for the 2021-22 season. However, the youngster’s career began to stall at this point rather than accelerate, as one may have imagined from this impressive initial trajectory.
A loan move to Bolton Wanderers in January 2023 saw Shoretire play sixteen times but only score one goal. And he would make no further appearances for the United first-team following his return.
Contract negotiations had been initiated earlier this season but the 20-year-old decided a fresh start was needed for him to kickstart his career away from Old Trafford.
There was reportedly interest from clubs in England and Spain in the forward but, as something of a shock, Greek Super League champions Panathinaikos (PAOK) have won the race to secure his signature.
As relayed by The Peoples Person here, PAOK reached a “verbal agreement” with Shoretire to sign on a free transfer and, now, the 20-year-old has been spotted on video landing in Greece to officially confirm the move.
⚪️⚫️🇬🇷 Former Man United talent Shola Shoretire has just landed in Greece to sign in as new PAOK player.
He’s joining on free transfer after contract expired at #MUFC, as exclusively revealed. pic.twitter.com/w0NM3iZa2R
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) July 30, 2024
Romano has posted the video on X (formerly known as Twitter) showing Shoretire arriving at Thessaloniki airport to “sign in as new PAOK player.”
While the move is a surprising one, the chance to play for one of the biggest clubs in a country obsessed with football with a level of sunshine and culinary skill that far surpasses England is a bold and brave one for the 20-year-old forward, and should be commended as such.
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