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Manchester United Under-18s hot-shot Aidan Barlow has admitted he did not want last season to end as he is hard at work at the club's training camp in Austria.
Nobody scored more goals for Kieran McKenna’s side in 2016/17 than the local lad, who broke into the team in the latter part of the season and sparkled in the Merit Group phase, scoring a hat-trick against Newcastle United and two crackers in the draw with Liverpool.
Despite his goal record, the youngster feels he should not be considered a forward. “I’m more of a box-to-box midfielder,” he explained to ManUtd.com. “But I am quite attack minded and capable of scoring goals too.”
Currently enjoying the preparations in Obertraun, the 17-year-old is rightly eager to carry on from where he left off when the new campaign gets under way.
“No, I didn’t want it to end,” he said. “I finished the season strongly, becoming joint-top scorer with Angel [Gomes], and got a call-up to go to the Euros [Under-17 European Championship finals] with England.
“I scored a goal on my international debut [in a 4-0 win over Ukraine] and managed to convert a penalty in the shoot-out in the final. There was a bit of pressure going first but I thought we were unlucky to lose [to Spain]. I just thought I want to keep going, work hard this pre-season and make sure I come back as strongly as I can.
“I just want to push on. It’s my second year and I must become a leader in the team, pushing to break into the Under-23s team. I have been around it before and got a few minutes away to Chelsea last year, which was good experience. That’s why it’s good to have all the Under-18s and Under-23s in Austria so both squads can come together, build relationships and a team spirit.
“The new players have come in and all settled well, even from the first few sessions we have had. It feels like the group could be even stronger this year as we have a lot of options with all different types of players. We’ve all got to work together to get each other through pre-season so we can start the campaign strongly and go on from there.”
Nobody scored more goals for Kieran McKenna’s side in 2016/17 than the local lad, who broke into the team in the latter part of the season and sparkled in the Merit Group phase, scoring a hat-trick against Newcastle United and two crackers in the draw with Liverpool.
Despite his goal record, the youngster feels he should not be considered a forward. “I’m more of a box-to-box midfielder,” he explained to ManUtd.com. “But I am quite attack minded and capable of scoring goals too.”
Currently enjoying the preparations in Obertraun, the 17-year-old is rightly eager to carry on from where he left off when the new campaign gets under way.
“No, I didn’t want it to end,” he said. “I finished the season strongly, becoming joint-top scorer with Angel [Gomes], and got a call-up to go to the Euros [Under-17 European Championship finals] with England.
“I scored a goal on my international debut [in a 4-0 win over Ukraine] and managed to convert a penalty in the shoot-out in the final. There was a bit of pressure going first but I thought we were unlucky to lose [to Spain]. I just thought I want to keep going, work hard this pre-season and make sure I come back as strongly as I can.
“I just want to push on. It’s my second year and I must become a leader in the team, pushing to break into the Under-23s team. I have been around it before and got a few minutes away to Chelsea last year, which was good experience. That’s why it’s good to have all the Under-18s and Under-23s in Austria so both squads can come together, build relationships and a team spirit.
“The new players have come in and all settled well, even from the first few sessions we have had. It feels like the group could be even stronger this year as we have a lot of options with all different types of players. We’ve all got to work together to get each other through pre-season so we can start the campaign strongly and go on from there.”