Aidan Barlow decided to leave his homeland for Norway in the hopes to be more visible to Manchester United. The 19-year-old talent will be joining the Norwegian side Tromso. Tromso is a top-level football club in the world. Barlow won’t be the first young British player who decided to move to a foreign country to participate in regular first-team games and not just at the development level.
Barlow is enthusiastic about his decision which was advised by his coach at United, Mark Dempsey. “The move came about through Mark Dempsey. He used to work here and they showed interest.” – the young player told the press. “He just said, ‘I think you should take it, it’ll suit you, you’ll gain a lot from it. I think I did (need to take that step), which is why I took the opportunity straight away,” – he added.
Barlow was only five years old when he joined United. He had discussions with the Nicky Butt, the head of first-team development and Les Parry, loan manager before he finally signed the deal with Tromso. Les Parry and others from United are still keeping their eyes on the 19-year-old and tracking his performance. As of now, he has managed to score one goal during four matches for Eliteserien.
The young footballer seems to be content with his move as well. “It’s good, it’s good so far. The weather is not bad – it’s just like Manchester, so it’s not so bad. There’s not many people, it’s very small, but all the people speak English and everyone is nice, so it’s just easy-going. I just want to play every game possible here, score as many goals as I can. Just make sure the club stays in the league and I think that’ll be good.” – he commented. There are some fans from his homeland that have visited Barlow during the matches for his new club as well.
Aidan Barlow also seems to be pleased with the interest of Norwegians for the United. “Virtually everyone here is passionate for United,” – he said. Norwegians are known to be big enthusiasts of football. They channel a part of that enthusiasm to online sports betting websites. Nearly a third of the country is involved in sports betting or gambling on a weekly basis on the best Norwegian betting sites.
The interest in United has been fueled further with the return of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. His return is also a reason for hope to Barlow. “I didn’t speak to him much about it but he knew I was coming here and he said it’ll be good for me. The goal is to do well while I’m here and obviously look for the first team at United because there’s (sic) opportunities there,” – the teenager said. The determination and drive are palpable with the young player. Replacing Callum Hudson-Odoi in the final of European Championships a couple of years back, he was the only player at Young Lions to convert the penalty against Spain.
His peers also serve as a source of inspiration for Barlow. In particular, he cites Jadon Sancho to be one of those players he looks up to. “I think the opportunities are there and people are willing to take it. As an example, Jadon Sancho took his opportunity and look at him now and I think quite a few players are doing that. I’ve come here and I’ve not found it that hard. I still keep in contact with everyone back home so it makes it easy,” – Barlow commented.