ATK sign former Manchester United youth team captain Tom Thorpe

Kolkata, Sep 12: Two-time Indian Super League (ISL) champions ATK on Monday (September 12) announced the signing of former Manchester United academy graduate Tom Thorpe as their latest addition for the upcoming season.

Thorpe was one of the promising names of the Manchester United academy and made his only debut in the United shirt under Louis Van Gaal in the 2014-15 season.

The defender was the captain of the United's reserve for a long time and guided them to u21 league victory in 2012-13. He has also played in England u20 jersey alongside the likes of Eric Dier, Harry Kane and with Michael Keane, Jese Lingard in United shirt.

He was released in later in 2015 and the defender joined Rotherham United to play in the Championship.

However, the Manchester born player made just 10 appearances in two seasons for the Millers and later went on loan at Bradford City and Bolton Wanderers.

Last season he made 25 appearances for Bolton and helped the club to achieve promotion to Championship.

Thorpe will join another former Manchester United player Teddy Sheringham who is now the head coach of Atletico and play alongside with the likes of Bolton Wanderers legendary goalkeeper Jussi Jääskeläinen and Spurs legend Robbie Keane who also has joined the team for this season.

“It is a fantastic opportunity which has come my way. ATK is popular among football fans globally. I will learn a lot under Teddy’s leadership. Will play to win but I am sure my stint in ATK will have a remarkable impression on my career path. Above all I would like to thank the management for choosing me to be a part of this squad.” Thorpe said in a statement.

ATK principal owners Sanjiv Goenka also welcomed the player and wished him all the best for the new season.

"We welcome Tom to our ATK family. We all are happy to have him on the team. He is an asset which will strengthen our team’s defence,” Sanjiv Goenka added.

The 25-year-old became the seventh signing of the Teddy Sheringham's Kolkata based team and fulfilled their quota of foreign players.