Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho snaps-up highly-rated Tottenham coach to nurture his young stars

TOTTENHAM youth coach Kieran McKenna has joined up with Jose Mourinho at Manchester United.

The highly-rated former Enniskillen Town player, 30, was forced to end his career early after he was unable to shake off a persistent hip injury.

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He since became coach of Spurs‘ Under-18 side and guided them to the semi-final of the FA Youth Cup in 2015 and has always championed a policy of preparing players  by playing in the same mould as the first-team.

United are overhauling their academy as they look to continue their proud policy of introducing homegrown talent into the senior squad, following the success of players such as Marcus Rashford over the past year.

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Paul McGuinness left the club earlier this year, and had worked as  Under-18 boss since 2005.

McKenna will take charge of the Under-23s side, as he looks to mimic his work at Tottenham which has seen them put strong faith in their youth players.

Mourinho is famously wary of academy products and throughout his managerial career has preferred transfers to turning to youngsters, particularly during his time at Chelsea.

But United are a club with homegrown talent at the heart - from the Busby Babes to the Class of '92 - and McKenna is the man entrusted with bringing in the next generation.