Man Utd wonderkid in line to make first international appearance before Red Devils debut

Manchester United starlet James Overy is in line to make his international debut for Australia - before his senior Red Devils debut.

Overy, 18, joined the Red Devils in 2024 from Newton Abbot Spurs and has gone on to appear for both the club’s Under-18 and Under-21 side. And now it appears that he could be in line for international recognition, having been called into the Australia senior squad for upcoming games against Venezuela and Colombia.

Speaking about the youngster, Australia boss Tony Popovic said: "He's worth having a look at. I'm open minded about what that looks like for the immediate future and long term. Watching him closely in Chile, I was impressed.

"We have good contacts at Manchester United, so we know what he's doing at training. He's in the process where he's getting called up (to first-team training) a lot more often."

Overy, a natural right-back, was born in Perth and moved to England in 2023. He had previously represented Scotland at under-19 level.

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The defender’s call-up into the Australia senior squad comes after Ruben Amorim had extended United’s long record of having at least one academy graduate in a matchday squad - a record that has stood for 88 years.

Jack Fletcher was the player to keep up that tradition and speaking about his inclusion, Amorim said: “It’s really important. I think again we are in the moment [where] if we are going to take some corners and succeed right away, it’s the wrong thing.

“There are some things especially in our club that we need to be bulletproof. It’s the way we behave, the way we feel the club and all these small things. We are not going to stop with the Academy players.

“It doesn’t matter the result, it doesn’t matter anything else. We need to continue with these small details that are the foundations of our club, so we have that record. We are not going to break that record, and Jack is ready to help us.

“We put two things together to show people that our Academy is the future and to show the players in our Academy that they need to be ready because we are going to need them at some point. Jack is ready to help us.”

United will no doubt be aiming to extend their academy record after the international break, with the Red Devils set to take on Everton in their first Premier League game after the international break.