Ahead of their quarter-final clash with Barcelona this evening, Manchester United have added an exciting young Irish prospect to their Champions League squad.

Lee O'Connor is yet to be selected in a first-team matchday squad but has been listed on United’s Champions League squad on the Uefa website.

Clubs must update their squad lists 24 hours before games and O’Connor - a composed central defender - has become the latest addition.

O’Connor is listed as suspended on the Uefa website after he was sent off in of United Under-19s’ Uefa Youth League defeat at the hands by Midtjylland last month. He is also listed as having the squad number 59.

The 18-year-old joined United from Villa Football Club in Waterford in 2016 and has already trained with the Ireland senior squad.


He was part of the United side that lifted the Under-18 Premier League North trophy which resulted in him being nominated for the Manchester United Young Player of the Year prize.

His impressive performance for the Under-18 side has already seen him been promoted to the Reserve team, where he has been deployed as a full-back for them this season, despite his preference to play at centre-back.

In total, O'Connor has made 83 appearances for United across three different age groups since joining the club three years ago.

O’Connor was also appointed captained the Republic of Ireland U19 side as Tom Mohan’s side topped their European Under-19 Championship qualifying group last year.

Former Ireland manager Martin O'Neill named the talented youngster in his squad for the Nations League encounter vs Denmark last November.


The Waterford native, who shares the same birthplace as United legend John O'Shea, is rated as one of the hottest talents in the United youth set-up at the club.

Given manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's penchant for playing young players, fans could see O'Connor make his first-team debut before the end of the season.

Our youngsters are at the @PSV_OttenCup and #MUFC captain Lee O'Connor scored this great goal yesterday... 👏 pic.twitter.com/g3VCSpEso6 — Manchester United (@ManUtd) August 5, 2017

United's Northern Irish coach Kieran McKenna has praised the defender in the past, describing as an important figure in the youth set-up.

"I think he has done fantastic and been a real bonus," McKenna told the official Man Utd website.

"You never know how a lad is going to settle in after coming from Ireland and it's a huge step up from the level he was playing at. He has been a really important part of the team at centre-half and in both full-back positions.


"I think he's a really talented boy but also a very solid and dependable character, which is an important quality to have in a defender."