Manchester United starlet’s unusual penalty against Tottenham went viral and earned him mass respect

Despite playing for Manchester United’s Under-15s, Amir Ibragimov showed maturity well beyond his years in March, 2022.

The 16-year-old is one of several top-rated talents in the United academy but he made headlines for a different reason last year.

Ibragimov is one of United’s most exciting talentsGetty

While playing against Tottenham at the club’s Carrington training complex, he was awarded a contentious penalty.

After driving into the Spurs box, the forward appeared to be tripped and a penalty was immediately given.

But on closer inspection, Ibragimov actually fell over himself and the Tottenham defender never touched him.

The teenager picked himself up, took the ball and placed it on the spot while Spurs players looked baffled.

However, rather than refuse like Robbie Fowler against Arsenal in 1997, the Dagestan-born ace rolled the penalty into the goalkeeper’s arms in a show of surprising sportsmanship.

It was quite the show of respect from a player so young when it would have been easier to smash home the spot-kick and get United a crucial goal.

Especially considering the match ended 2-2, meaning his penalty could have been the winner.

A clip of the incident went viral on social media and earned him respect in the football community.

He won huge respect against Tottenham when he went down under a challenge in the boxInstagram/@risingballers

But instead of scoring the penalty, Ibragimov simply rolled it back to the keeper in a show of sportsmanshipInstagram/@risingballers

On that same weekend, the senior United side took on Tottenham in the Premier League.

Cristiano Ronaldo scored an incredible hat-trick to make it 3-2 and put the Red Devils in the driving seat in a bid to finish in the top four – something they would ultimately fail to do by ending up sixth in the Premier League.

While Ronaldo left in acrimonious circumstances for Saudi Arabia, Ibragimov is still on the books at Old Trafford.

And there is some hype growing around the player, who has been commended for his incredible dribbling ability, flair and penchant for sensational goals – sound familiar?

The talented teenager has been called up to train with United’s first team, who play Spurs in the Premier League nextGetty

Ibragimov has even trained with the first-team, being called up by manager Erik ten Hag in April earlier this year despite still just being 15.

The youngster has been tipped for a big future in football while he is not the only sporting member of his family.

Both of his younger brothers, Gazi and Muhammad, also play across United’s youth teams.

And his older brother, Ibragim, is a professional MMA fighter, while Amir has already been capped by England’s Under-15s, which was commended by UFC fighter Umar Nurmagomedov – cousin of undefeated lightweight champion Khabib – who commented under his Instagram post at the time.

His first game came in a 3-2 win over Belgium in February 2023 and told his followers on Instagram: “There’s more to come.”