Manchester United Under-21 coach Travis Binnion has highlighted the important role player-coach Tommy Rowe is playing in the development of Mali teenager Sekou Kone.
Kone, who joined United earlier this season, has made an impressive start at the U21 level.
According to Binnion, Rowe’s close involvement has been key to helping the young midfielder settle both on and off the pitch.
“Rowy has been excellent with him and they have a brilliant relationship,” Binnion told the Manchester Evening News.
“I think Rowy must have been on holiday in the south of France, with how good his French is coming on. The amount of meetings he’s had with him is brilliant.”
Binnion explained that Rowe has been given the responsibility of guiding Kone through analysis sessions, using a language tutor to help translate football terminology.
“Initially, it was more around basic English, but recently it’s been more weighted around his football and specific language that we will use, so specific terminology he needs to learn in English so his teammates can communicate with him.”
Adjusting to life at United has not been without challenges for Kone, who has had to cope with moving to a new country without his family.
However, Binnion praised the young player’s resilience.
“It’s still difficult, could you imagine us moving to Africa and not speaking a language? Then having the expectation he has on him, but he’s taken it all in his stride brilliantly after a slow start because of injury.”
Speaking about Kone’s potential, Binnion added: “He’s a good player and we have high expectations for him, and any player we sign, you want to have those expectations.
“You can see with the lads in the first-team, the level of expectation is high. But the reward is high and our lads have to be ready, maybe sooner than other big clubs, which is a real positive for players in the academy, but it’s hard, it’s not easy, is it?”
