Having captained Manchester United to the 2011 FA Youth cup and England to the semi finals of last summer’s UEFA European Under-19 Championship, Tom Thope is taking the right steps to the top.
The defender, equally as adept at playing in midfield, was part of the Manchester United party that travelled to Istanbul last year as United took on Galatasaray in the group stage of the Champions League and there are high hopes for him.
Having seen the likes of Michael Keane make his first team debut this season, the defender knows that if he is good enough and shows it his time will come as he told UEFA.Com during an interview:
‘You know that if you’re good enough, if you put the work in, he’ll trust you. There is a chance there for a lot of the younger players. So it’s not that hard to be able to see whether the boss will give you the chance – if you’re good enough, he will.’
The 19 year old also told UEFA about his experience in ‘hell’, following his trip to Galatasaray and what he picked up from it:
‘Yes, it was a great experience, especially to go to Galatasaray, it’s a very hostile place. And it was a good learning curve for the lot of us who went, a lot of the younger players, even though some of us didn’t play. It was still great to be there, great to be around the squad. And we learned a lot.’