Man Utd: Phil Neville recommended Salford player in 2015 - what happened to him?

Mention the name Sadiq El Fitouri to Manchester United, Manchester City and Salford City FC fans and they may all give you a blank look while racking their brains.

However, the defender was on the books of all three clubs at various points during his early career.

El Fitouri started out in the Manchester City youth system but was released in 2013 after it became clear to the club that he was unlikely to blossom into a top player.

Following that setback, the Libya-born right-back only played football with his mates in the park before being snapped up by non-league Salford City in 2014 after a trial.

El Fitouri made one appearance for Salford before catching the eye of part-owners Phil Neville and Paul Scholes.

This happened at the same time Salford invited TV cameras in to film ‘Class of 92: Out of Their League’ – and the lad’s journey from non-league to Old Trafford subsequently made the documentary.

“The minute I saw him I thought ‘this kid can play’,” Neville explained at the time. “There’s something mystique about him – he has a bit of swagger. Sometimes you get a gut feeling on a player and I had it.

“He’s not played football for a year and a half, it’s incredible. Jonno and Bernard [joint-managers Anthony Johnson and Bernard Morley] want to play the solid lads, which I can understand. They like him but they don’t want to change the team.

“Paul said: ‘Look, ring Warren Joyce at Man United. He’s the best judge of a young player that you’ll see’.”

Neville told the youngster to “go looking smart” after organising a trial at Man United, scheduled for the following day. 

During a conversation with Gary Neville, another of Salford’s part-owners, Scholes said: “His physique and everything, he just looks like a footballer.”