Manchester United have confirmed that Quinton Fortune has left his role as the club's Under-23s assistant manager to join Reading.
The former United midfielder was appointed a little more than a year ago to assist Neil Wood, as the pair successfully took the youth side back into the top tier of U23s football last season.
Fortune spent seven years at United as a player under Sir Alex Ferguson between 1999 and 2006, making 126 appearances for the first team. And after completing his coaches badges, he was Wood's trusted lieutenant on the sideline last season.
He now joins Championship outfit Reading as their first team coach under new boss Veljko Paunovic.
MEN Sport understands the club's head of first team development Nicky Butt will take an increased role in the coaching of the U23s side in the short term. The club are yet to decide whether to appoint a direct replacement for Fortune.
Coaches from elsewhere in United's academy system will also take on increased responsibilities as Wood takes his team into Premier League 2 after their promotion.
United's head of academy Nick Cox said: “Everyone at the academy wishes Quinton the best of luck in his new role. All of our coaches, as well as the players, receive a huge amount of development and this is another example of the type of progress that an individual can make within the academy system.
"The Under-23s' promotion was a great achievement for Neil Wood and his staff so we’d like to thank Quinton for his role in that.
“We are fortunate to have a pool of excellent coaches in the professional development phase who are ready to take on increased responsibilities. They will work together to support the squad as we look to continue to build on the eight first-team debuts that were made last season.”
