USA Move To Beat Nigeria To Man Utd Defender, Handed First Senior Call-Up

Published: May 21, 2018

The United States Soccer Federation have moved to beat the Nigeria Football Federation to the services of Manchester United right-back Matthew Olosunde after he was called up to USA senior team for the first time in his career.

Olosunde is among the eight defenders named in a 22-man roster by manager Dave Sarachan for the Memorial Day clash against Bolivia on May 28 at Talen Energy Stadium in Chester.

The 20-year-old will be hoping to impress in that friendly in order to be selected for the games against Republic of Ireland and World Cup-bound France on June 2 and June 9 respectively.

''Matt Olosunde has had a good experience developing with a high-profile club like Manchester United, manager Dave Sarachan told US Soccer.

''He’s been on our radar as a young defender for a number of years, and obviously the club also saw something in him.

''He’s a versatile defender that can play anywhere on the back line. He possesses good size and strength.

''He was available to be a part of this camp, and I thought this would be a good opportunity to bring him in for a closer look.''

US Soccer have invited Olosunde to the senior national team without him debuting for Manchester United though he traveled with the first team to London for Premier League matches against Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur during the 2016-2017 season.

The versatile fullback was in the United States U17 starting line-up that lost 2-0 to the Golden Eaglets at the 2015 Fifa U17 World Cup in Chile.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel

Photo Credit : manutd.com