With Manchester United youngsters Tyler Blackett and Paddy McNair having made over 25 Premier League appearances between them this season, if you had said that’d be the case at the start of the season, they would’ve thought you were joking.
Partly through widespread injuries to Louis van Gaal’s defence but also due to the Dutchman’s commitment to bringing through younger players at Old Trafford, it was these two and particularly Northern Irishman McNair who proved the real success stories in regards to youth this past season.
McNair was a name that in all honesty appeared from nowhere after he made van Gaal’s starting eleven for the home fixture against West Ham United right back near the beginning of the 2014/15 campaign.
Since then, McNair has remained in the first team picture at Old Trafford and has since been a consistent part of Michael O’Neill’s Northern Ireland international squads in what can be described as a truly memorable breakthrough season for the 20-year-old.
Football fans always love to see younger players cut their teeth in their club’s senior squad and keeping along this theme, we have identified five more Red Devils starlets who could end up emulating the likes of McNair and Blackett while appearing for Manchester United’s first team more readily next season.
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Click on the original wonderkid himself Wayne Rooney below to reveal the 5 starlets to emerge from Manchester United’s youth ranks next season.
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Angelo Henriquez
Remember him? The young Chilean has been in quite scintillating form on loan for Dinamo Zagreb in Croatia this season, plundering 20 goals in yet another title triumph for the biggest team in that division.
At the beginning of the 2012/13 season, Henriquez was given the number 21 shirt at Old Trafford but Red Devils fans are yet to see him make a breakthrough to their first team plans.
Following a forgettable loan spell in the Premier League with Wigan Athletic in 2013, Henriquez has got better and better, firstly at Real Zaragoza and now Dinamo Zagreb so who’s to say he won’t return to Louis van Gaal’s first team plans next season after his fantastic season in Eastern Europe?
With Javier Hernandez unlikely to return to the fold and Radamel Falcao not returning after a disappointing loan spell, perhaps a door could open for Henriquez to become a fourth/fifth choice behind Wayne Rooney, Robin van Persie, James Wilson and a potential new forward.
Demetri Mitchell
Billed as a ‘potential game-changer’ with ‘explosive pace’ by the official Manchester United website, there is huge excitement around Demetri Mitchell who could go on to emulate the success of Adnan Januzaj in his fledgling Red Devils career to date.
An England Under-17 international, Mitchell is a winger by trade and United have had their fair share of outstanding players in this position down the years, haven’t they?
While Januzaj’s career has hit an unwanted stumbling block with the Belgian having to dislodge the likes of Ashley Young and Angel Di Maria, it would be a shame if he had to make a loan move away but you would understand his desire to chase regular first team football.
If he were to temporarily move away, perhaps this would be a chance for Manchester United to unearth their next academy gem in Mitchell who has impressed in the youth ranks so much that Premier League Southampton registered an interest in signing him during last summer’s transfer window.
Saidy Janko
Manchester United have already seen glimpses of Swiss full back Saidy Janko, particularly in that horror show of a defeat away at Milton Keynes Dons in the Capital One Cup this past season but since then, the player has gone on to develop nicely.
Managing to secure a loan move to a good level of football in the Championship with Bolton Wanderers in February, Janko played 10 times under Neil Lennon in a money can’t buy experience for the Switzerland Under-19 international.
Capable of playing further forward from right back as well, Janko’s attacking prowess isn’t in doubt after he scored this wonder strike against Fulham earlier this campaign.
Josh Harrop
With Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard having now played their last games in the Premier League, the talk of the Football Transfer Tavern has recently centred upon who will emerge to replace these great goalscoring midfielders of the English game.
One man who is just starting out on his footballing journey is Red Devils starlet Josh Harrop who is a central midfielder with an eye for goal.
Harrop is most certainly an attack-minded midfielder and has also been deployed on the left hand side for Warren Joyce’s Under-21 ranks.
Harrop is yet to accumulate first team playing chances like academy compatriot Joe Rothwell who joined Blackpool for a short spell in the Championship last term but perhaps this youngster could have his eyes set on forging a part of Louis van Gaal’s squad in the early rounds of the Capital One Cup or FA Cup next term.
Andreas Pereira
Manchester United fans got more and more accustomed to seeing the name ‘Andreas Pereira’ grace their Premier League matchday squad of 18 as the season went on, a mark of how highly Manchester United rate their Brazilian youngster.
There has been a buzz around Pereira for a little while at Old Trafford now and after a fear that they may lose him this summer, the midfielder committed to a new four-year deal on May 1st.
Upon signing the new contract, Louis van Gaal claimed: “I am delighted that Andreas has signed a new contract. Andreas has all the attributes to become an integral part of the first team; great natural talent coupled with a good appetite to learn.
“I am pleased with his progression so far this season and look forward to working with him to develop his talent even further.”
A former youth international with the country of his birth in Belgium, Pereira has since switched his allegiances to those of his father in Brazil and forges a part of the Brazil squad that will compete at the FIFA Under-20 World Cup in New Zealand that kicks off in only three days’ time.
