Ryan Tunnicliffe signs for Adelaide United | OneFootball

Former Manchester United youth midfielder, Ryan Tunnicliffe, has signed for Australian side, Adelaide United.

The Englishman has been without a club since he was released by Portsmouth earlier this year.

Tunnicliffe was a once highly-rated youth prospect at Old Trafford, where he played alongside the likes of Paul Pogba, Jesse Lingard, and Ravel Morrison.

In the 2010/2011 season, he would win the FA Youth Cup alongside this group of players and would individually go on to win the Jimmy Murphy Young Player of the Year award.

While, for some time, there was talk of him forging a career in the Man United first team, this never materialised.

Instead, he went on to build a career as a journeyman, making a handful of appearances for various Premier League clubs, and then in the Football League, leading to a cumulative 350-game haul.

Now 30, and finding domestic suitors harder to come by,  Tunnicliffe has found a new home in Australia – at least for the next two years.

Adelaide have offered a two-year contract which Tunnicliffe has accepted.

Speaking on the move, as Keepup reports, the combative midfielder said:

“I’m absolutely over the moon to have signed for United [Adelaide] and it poses a great challenge and change for me after playing in England all of my life.”

On the club’s part, head coach Carl Veart extolled Tunnicliffe’s leadership and quality, saying:

“Ryan has a wealth of experience in the game with a never-say-die mentality, and we’re really looking forward to his leadership and grit on the park this season.”