Manchester United’s youngsters have this season been providing a glimmer of hope for the various academy teams.
United’s under-18s are into the FA Youth Cup final and there is a good chance of repeating this run in future years too.
This is due to the talent in United’s under-16s side which is already beginning to surface at under-18s level.
Finley McAllister has already stepped up as a starter, as has Ruben Curley, while Ethan Wheatley and Harrison Parker both made their under-18s debut just last week.
Wheatley followed this up with a big performance in an important under-16s game. The side were lining up in the Premier League Cup under-16s semi-final against Sunderland and won 4-1.
Ruben Curley scored once while Wheatley bagged a hat-trick. Adam Berry provided two assists.
The goals all came from open play and can be viewed in the video clip below.
Wheatley, 16, made a name for himself last summer by scoring the winning goal as United’s under-16s toured Northern Ireland and beat Ballymena under-17s 1-0, in a Super Cup Challenge Match reported on by BBC Sport.
United have plenty of capable goalscorers at under-18s level already, with Alejandro Garnacho, Joe Hugill and Manni Norkett all into double figures, along with Charlie McNeill if you combine his under-18s and under-23s goals.
Next season Norkett will be the only one of the trio eligible to play at under-18s level, and Wheatley will step up on a regular basis.
His latest exploits are a positive sign United have another gem in the pipeline.
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