Spireites sign former Manchester United starlet

El Fitouri, who can play at right-back and in central defence, has agreed a deal until the end of the season. He was born in Libya and has been capped three times by his country.

El Fitouri, 22, who as a free agent was able to sign after Tuesday’s deadline, said: “I’m very pleased to be here. After training on Tuesday, I got a phone call saying that Chesterfield were interested and I thought that it would be a great opportunity to come here and show what I can do.

“I spoke to the manager and he told me that he was happy to sign me and he told me that he likes the philosophy of working with young players and to play out from the back.

“Hopefully I’ll get the chance to play games and help the club stay in the division.”

Spireites boss Gary Caldwell said: “He is somebody who was not getting the game time at Manchester United with the Under 23s and felt that it was a great opportunity to kick-start his career here,” said the Spireites boss.

“Obviously Manchester United is a huge club and it is very difficult to break through there, but we felt that we could give him the opportunity here for first team football.

“He will be able to work with the young players that we have and develop on the training pitch.”

El Fitouri, who was with Manchester City as a youngster, joined United from Salford City after being handed a trial on the recommendation of the non-league club’s part-owners Phil Neville and Paul Scholes.