Former Manchester United prospect El Fitouri on his quest to return to football's top table

The 22-year-old Libyan international arrived at the Proact after two years at Old Tafford but prior to his Chesterfield debut, El Fitouri had just one senior club game to his name, for non-league Salford.

It was Salford part-owners Phil Neville and Paul Scholes who recommended him to Manchester United in January 2015.

And a week long trial yielded a contract offer for the young man released by Manchester City as a kid.

His story was played out on the small screen, in the BBC’s Class of ‘92: Out of Their League series.

“After I left City I was out of football for two years,” he revealed.

“I was going to give up but then I managed to go to Salford and luckily I got picked up by United.

“It’s been quite a journey to be fair.

“As soon as I heard United I wanted to go straight away – it’s one of the biggest clubs in the world.”

The right-back never made a first team appearance for the Red Devils, but believes he’s a better player for those two years.

“It’s definitely improved me a lot as a player, physically, tactically, technically,” he said.

“Being around top players helped me a lot, all the staff helped me.It was definitely a good experience.”

And he’s hoping his spell with Chesterfield will be the start of his ascent back to the ‘big time’.

“That’s my aim, to be right at the top but that’s every player’s aim,” he said.

“Hopefully I can prove myself in my time here and get back to the top.”