Man Utd superfan Steven Bartlett recruits Premier League coach to remedy ‘terrible’ Soccer Aid debut in 2022

Manchester United superfan Steven Bartlett has stepped up his Soccer Aid preparations by recruiting a coach sought out by Premier League and Championship stars.

The businessman is now best known for being the youngest ever dragon on Dragon's Den and as the host of The Diary of a CEO podcast launched his career by starting the multi-million pound company Social Chain from his Manchester bedroom.

Bartlett is a huge Manchester United fan and regularly comments on the club's process. He has added that it will be a 'dream come true' to take part in Soccer Aid at Old Trafford this year as the event returns to the Theatre of Dreams for the first time since 2018.

The 30-year-old appeared in the charity match last year and played for winning side World XI - Bartlett was born in Botswana before moving to the UK at the age of two.

Whilst the World XI triumphed in that match thanks to Lee Mack's winning penalty, but the Dragon admitted he "played terribly".

Bartlett said: "It felt fantastic to win last year. The best part was Lee Mack winning the entire thing for us and I'm betting on him doing that again.

"It’s a lot of fun at the end of the day but I’m also insanely competitive and I like to win. I think I played terribly last year and I could have played a lot better, so this year it's a mission of personal redemption for me.

"I’m looking forward to winning again this year hopefully, but also breaking the record of the money raised last year."

The businessman has already made major moves to remedy last year's performance and shared videos of him being trained by Brodie Couzins Fitness.

The professional elite performance coach has worked with stars including Aston Villa and Watford man Keinan Davis and Arsenal come Southampton midfielder Ainsley Maitland-Niles, as well as familiar Soccer Aid face Chunkz.

Bartlett posed for a photo pretending to put pen to paper in Couzins' office as he shared clips of his training sessions on social media.

The star took part in shooting practice as his coach praised his pin-point rocket shots.

Speaking about his Old Trafford debut, Bartlett said: “It’s the best news ever that it’s back in Manchester this year and it's an absolute dream come true to be playing at Old Trafford.

"Half my family were born in Manchester so I’ve been a United fan since I was baby. When you're playing in the garden growing up you dream of kicking a ball on that pitch so for me to be playing at Old Trafford is something that I never really never believed could possibly come true.

"I am a huge Manchester United fan and I always will be, I go to all the away days. Maybe one day I'll be able to buy the club."

Soccer Aid 2023 takes place on Sunday, June 11 at Old Trafford.