England youth international of Nigerian descent Shola Shoretire, who has been compared to Super Eagles and Paris Saint-Germain legend Austin Jay-Jay Okocha, is likely to stay with Manchester United's first team for the next few months, manager Ole Gunnar Solskjær confirmed on Friday.

Fresh from signing his first professional contract with the Red Devils, the versatile winger has been invited to train with the first team along with new signing Amad  Diallo and Hannibal Mejbri.

United are competing for honours in three competitions - Premier League, FA Cup and Europa League - and the Norwegian football tactician wants a larger group of players to choose from.

When asked if Shoretire, Amad and Hannibal would be staying with the first team for the remainder of the season, Solskjær answered : "The young kids? Yeah, we’ve moved Shola up with us, Hannibal will probably join us, and we’ll keep them with us for a while.

"Of course, it’s a decision we have to make – are they going to train with us and travel by themselves and not be a part of the Under-23s group?".

He continued : "We felt, with Shola, it was time for him to train with us. In the Reserves games, he’s just got to travel by himself; he can’t be in the dressing room, but we felt it was the right thing to do for him.

 "I think it’s the next step in their development and we’ve just got to take the hit on them when they play in the Reserves – that they’ve got to travel by themselves, because they’re in our [first-team] bubble."

The 17-year-old Shoretire, who joined Manchester United at the age of nine, has netted five goals in 13 appearances for the U23s in the Premier League 2 this season.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel

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