Shola Shoretire received a warm welcome on his return to Old Trafford with the Manchester United academy graduate finding himself back in England just months after his departure
Shola Shoretire was applauded onto the Old Trafford pitch by the Manchester United fans on his return to the club.
The 20-year-old only left the Premier League club in the summer following the expiry of his contract, but made a swift return as his new club, PAOK, visited for a Europa League clash. Shoretire began on the bench but was introduced in the second-half.
He received a warm welcome as he prepared to come on with United fans clearly keen to recognise their academy graduate. It was under the Ole Gunnar Solskjaer regime that Shoretire first became involved when he emerged as an unknown youngster.
Shoretire would go on to become the club’s youngest ever player in European competition – a record he still holds. He headed out on loan to Bolton in recent years in an effort to further his first-team chances, but never really got a look in under Erik ten Hag.
He was one of several players cast out from United’s changing room amid an influx of new signings when the Dutch manager first arrived in 2022. With little room remaining among the first team facilities, reports suggested a group was shunted into the under-23 changing area.
Phil Jones, Brandon Williams, Axel Tuanzebe, Teden Mengi and Shoretire were said to be the players relegated with the now PAOK star never appearing to be part of Ten Hag’s plans.
Quizzed on his decision to leave Manchester and head to Greece the forward said: “Of course it was difficult to leave, but I felt it was the right moment for my career. PAOK seemed like a very good club to go to, and I’m very happy with how it’s gone so far.”
Despite United’s poor start to their European campaign the Greek side headed to Old Trafford as huge underdogs and the Manchester outfit were able to justify their favouritism as they secured a 2-0 victory courtesy of a brace from Amad.
It was far from a vintage performance in what was Ruud van Nistelrooy’s penultimate game as the team’s interim boss. He will take charge of the team when they face Leicester this weekend before Ruben Amorim begins work in Manchester.
Van Nistelrooy said on the performance: “We didn’t get going. I think our possession wasn’t good enough, we made many tactical mistakes, our shape wasn’t good, it was, at times, not low enough and, every time, in that shape that we wanted to play. Second half, we were a lot better.”
Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.
Learn more
