Joe Hugill became first player in England to reach double figures in PL2 this season

Add as preferred source on Google

Joe Hugill was on target again for Manchester United’s under-23 side at the weekend.

Hugill scored in the 3-0 win over Arsenal, and should really have had two, had he not missed a first half penalty.

Another day it might have been a hat-trick. After missing the first penalty, Hugill passed on a second, with Shola Shoretire scoring.

Despite the penalty mishap, Hugill is flying. He has now scored in three consecutive games and four out of his last five.

Into double figures for the under-23s

Hugill now has 10 goals for the under-23s this season. To put this in context, he became the first player in England to reach double figures.

Manchester City’s Liam Delap went on to overtake Hugill with a brace for their development side on Monday night. He previously had nine goals.

It’s an impressive achievement nonetheless for Hugill to beat Delap to the 10 goal mark.

For further context, Hugill has only started six matches at under-23 level, with the rest of his 10 appearances coming from the bench.

In total Hugill is on 16 goals for the season when you add in his six strikes for United’s under-18 side.

Working out well

Hugill is well ahead of schedule. At just 17-years-old there is no rush to promote him to the senior side.

But if he keeps on playing like he has been and scoring regularly, it will begin to become more of a conversation.

With another young prospect coming up behind him in the under-18s, Charlie McNeill has 12 goals himself, Hugill will have to keep up his momentum or risk being overtaken.

United are fortunate to have two young strike talents showing a lot of potential. They could both end this academy season each topping 20 goals.

• Youri Tielemans has a trait that Kobbie Mainoo needs to learn from him in Man Utd training
• Benjamin Sesko injury update and return timeline, what happened to Man Utd striker and way forward
• Man Utd can no longer offer Marcus Rashford what he needs, and plans are in place far beyond him
• Man Utd have one of the top 25 fastest players at the World Cup – but sold the star at #2
• Manchester United’s search for a reliable centre-back – Smart Premier League and European options for Ineos
• Every Man Utd loanee for the 2026/27 season
• Three standout World Cup stars proved that Man Utd should have done everything in their power to sign them
• Sir Alex Ferguson’s approach to Lisandro Martinez proves why ‘writing off’ Man Utd star is now premature
• The Man Utd coach connection behind Tynan Thompson’s big career accomplishment
• Michael Carrick could still implement Sir Alex Ferguson’s Man Utd ‘plan’ for post-World Cup, he saw it in action