The Class of 92 is perhaps football’s most famous example of a youth academy done right.
Nicky Butt, Phil Neville, Gary Neville, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs and of course David Beckham all graduated from the Manchester United academy, and went on to dominate English football, and in Beckham’s case, international football.
The 6 men grew up together in Manchester United’s youth team and went on to win Champions League titles as well as numerous Premier League and Fa Cup medals.
The Manchester United youth system is of course, one of the most prestigious in the world and has produced some other incredible stars such as Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba and Arsenal striker Danny Welbeck.
This season saw the remarkable breakthrough of Marcus Rashford who, in less than 100 days scored on his Manchester United debut in both the Europa League and the Premier League, before scoring with his very first shot for England in his first cap against Australia.
SO who will be the next one to play for the United first team, the Landlord at the Tavern examines the FIVE most likely candidates over the next few slides……
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PRESS THE IMAGE BELOW TO SEE THE FIVE MOST LIKELY CANDIDATES!
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Will Keane
When Rashford was called up to the United first team due to injuries to all of United’s main strikers, many fans were surprised that it was Ashford instead of Keane in the line up.
Keane scored 10 goals and claimed 2 assists in just 8 matches for the United reserves this season and could be a real threat.
Jose Mourinho is more than likely to give Keane a run out in the cup competitions next season.
Andreas Pereira
Pereira made a few appearances for United over the course of the 2015/16 season including some games in the FA Cup winning run.
The Brazilian tucked five goals away for United’s under-21 side from midfield this year and scored for Brazil’s under 23 side on his debut.
The landlord at the Tavern thinks that Pereira may be ready to step up, particularly with Juan Mata looking to be on his way out of Old Trafford.
James Weir
James Weir has had a fantastic season for United’ reserve side.
The English midfielder scored and assisted 6 goals whilst becoming a real key in the United side, perhaps like Paul Scholes.
The bartender at the Tavern thinks if Weir doesn’t break into the United side soon, he will be off on loan dominating the Championship.
Matthew Willock
Arsenal may regret letting Matthew go to Manchester United a few seasons ago.
The youngster’s brother is still in the Arsenal reserve side but Matthew himself has impressed in Manchester.
The 19-year-old scored 2 goals and assisted 3 times last season for United from central midfield.
The Willock family look to be the future of football, Chris and Matthew will surely break into the Arsenal and Manchester United first teams soon, but the pair’s younger brother Joseph, has recently been snapped up by Arsenal’s youth academy too!
Joe Riley
As well as Marcus Rashford, the last few seasons have seen the arrivals of starlets such as Paddy McNair, Tyler Blackett, Cameron Northwick-Jackson and Guillermo Varela of course as well as Timothy Fosu-Mensah and Jesse Lingard.
But to finish off this gallery, the United fans at the Tavern have opted that we choose Joe Riley as he had an impressive season for Man United, playing 18 times for the under-21’s and making his first team debut for Manchester United playing in both the Europa League and the FA Cup.
The defender has the ability to become the next Patrice Evra.
