The ONE Man Utd academy star Ruben Amorim rates as Obi-Martin judgement passed

Cameron Smith

• Updated: 7 Feb 2025 15:58 GMT
• 4 min read

Godwill Kukonki is reportedly the most likely Manchester United academy star to follow in Kobbie Mainoo’s footsteps and secure a permanent place in the club’s first-team.

The Red Devils have an illustrious history of promoting academy players into the senior side and Kukonki is set to be rewarded after impressing Ruben Amorim in training.

The Manchester Evening News have reported that Kukonki was the “only” academy prospect to make an impression on Amorim during his first training session in November and the Man Utd boss was eager to heap praise on the teenager late last year.

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“He’s 16, but he impressed me a lot,” Amorim admitted to MUTV in December. “It's also a sign to the youth players that they can be here. If something happened with the first-team, they have to step up and I think he's ready, he's very adult to handle the Premier League's demands.”

Kukonki has only made one Premier League 2 appearance so far this season and he has instead been a regular for Man Utd’s U18 side.

However, he has been named in Man Utd’s matchday squad on three occasions in the English top flight since Amorim’s appointment and could be handed his first-team debut soon.

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Ruben Amorim on Chido Obi-Martin

Although Kukonki is reportedly the only academy player that Amorim rates extremely highly, the Portuguese tactician has hinted that Chido Obi-Martin could become a first-team player in the future.

The 17-year-old arrived from Arsenal last summer and reports suggested that he would compete for a starting berth in the senior side this campaign.

However, Amorim has played down rumours that Obi-Martin will be preferred over Rasmus Hojlund or Joshua Zirkzee.

“He’s doing his job,” Amorim told reporters when asked about Obi-Martin. “He’s improving, he’s playing in the youth teams, and also we have other players who can play that position.

“Rasmus and Josh are there. We bought these two players, we need to improve them, and sometimes the confidence can change a player. We will see in the end of the season.

“But until then we have two strikers who can score goals, they’ve proved in the past, so let’s see if we can improve as a team to help them to score goals.”