{"id":954941,"date":"2026-05-12T14:03:29","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T14:03:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/954941\/"},"modified":"2026-05-12T14:03:29","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T14:03:29","slug":"manchester-united-talent-weighing-up-international-future-after-squad-call","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/954941\/","title":{"rendered":"Manchester United talent weighing up international future after squad call"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Man Utd youngster Amir Ibragimov is considering his international future after being called up by Russia<\/p>\n<p>13:20, 12 May 2026Updated 13:23, 12 May 2026<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"eager\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1_GettyImages-2272701319.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p aria-label=\"Amir Ibragimov is a bright prospect.\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-title__ccyQU\" data-testid=\"caption-title\">Amir Ibragimov is a bright prospect.(Image: 2026 Manchester United FC)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Manchester United youngster Amir Ibragimov has been included in Russia&#8217;s expanded senior squad for their upcoming friendlies. Ibragimov is eligible to represent England and Russia, but has not yet decided on his international future.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Ibragimov had featured for England at Under-15 and Under-16 level. However, he has been included in Russia&#8217;s expanded squad for their upcoming friendlies against Egypt, Burkina Faso and Trinidad and Tobago.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">The Manchester Evening News understands Ibragimov is currently weighing up his international future. No decision has been made at this stage, so he is not confirmed to join Russia&#8217;s national team later this month.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\"><strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35\"><a aria-label=\"Click hereLink opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk\/newsletter-preference-centre\/?view=Solus&amp;mailingListId=b696d536-2cc7-49b1-adf3-1471bfaad63e&amp;utm_source=solusarticle\" rel=\"follow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\">Click here<\/a> to find out the latest Manchester United news in our daily newsletter<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Ibragimov is one of the most <a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk\/sport\/football\/football-news\/man-united-scholes-ronaldinho-king-26884484\" rel=\"follow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_self\">highly rated prospects in the academy<\/a>. Three years ago, he trained with the first-team for the first time when he was just 15, and he has continued to progress through the ranks.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">The midfielder recently returned to action on the pitch after a five-month lay-off due to an injury, coming off the bench against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park in the <a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk\/all-about\/football-league-cup\" rel=\"follow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_self\">Premier League Cup<\/a> final.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Russia will not be a part of the World Cup this summer after being banned by FIFA following the invasion of Ukraine. They were banned from qualifying, meaning they could not earn a spot at the tournament.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">The last official match played by Russia&#8217;s men under the banner of mainstream competition was a 1-0 defeat by Croatia in a 2022 World Cup qualifying fixture in November 2021.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Russia have still competed internationally in friendlies, though, and FIFA President Gianni Infantino recently said that international bans in professional sports do \u2018more harm than good\u2019.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">However, UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin said his organisation is not considering Russia\u2019s return to international football, despite FIFA chief Infantino signalling support for easing the ban.<\/p>\n<p>Sky Sports, HBO Max, Netflix and Disney+ with Ultimate TV package<\/p>\n<p>This article contains affiliate links, we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk\/affiliates\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Learn more<\/a><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Content Image\" fetchpriority=\"auto\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0_Sky-Factbox.jpg\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Sky has upgraded its Ultimate TV and Sky Sports bundle to now include HBO Max, Netflix, Disney+, discovery+ and Hayu, as well as 135 channels and full Sky coverage of the Premier League and EFL.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Sky broadcasts more than 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more with at least 215 live from the top flight alongside Formula 1, darts and golf.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Man Utd youngster Amir Ibragimov is considering his international future after being called up by Russia 13:20, 12&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":954942,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8813],"tags":[748,393,4884,2465,17092,423,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-954941","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-manchester","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-england","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-manchester","12":"tag-manchester-united-academy","13":"tag-manchester-united-fc","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116561982950318769","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/954941","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=954941"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/954941\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/954942"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=954941"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=954941"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=954941"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}