Manchester United’s academy teams will be a gift for new head coach Ruben Amorim to utilise in his rebuild.
Erik ten Hag arrived at Manchester United at a tough time in 2022, yet there was one positive, the under-18s had just won the FA Youth Cup.
Ten Hag ensured two players from that side made a step up, with Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo scoring the goals to win Manchester United the FA Cup in 2024, a remarkable rise.
With Ten Hag now sacked, new boss Ruben Amorim will be hoping the Manchester United academy has more gems to offer.
Ethan Wheatley tries to stand out
Young star Ethan Wheatley made his Manchester United debut late last season, becoming the club’s 250th youth graduate to play for the first team.
Wheatley has been in and around the first team since, still awaiting his first start, and got some minutes under Ruud van Nistelrooy a week ago against Leicester.
On November 6, Wheatley featured for Manchester United’s under-19s in the UEFA Youth League against FK Zalgiris.
United had won 5-2 in the first leg away from home, and ran out easy winners in the second leg, triumphing 6-0 and 11-2 on aggregate.
Wheatley was one of six different goalscorers on the night, and marked his goal with Viktor Gyokeres’ trademark celebration, in which he creates a mask over his face in tribute to Batman villain Bane.
Gyokeres is Ruben Amorim’s leading scorer at Sporting, who Manchester United’s strikers want to emulate. Wheatley clearly wants a shot to prove he can be the man.
This was Wheatley’s sixth goal of the season, often not getting a chance to feature for the 21s because he has been with the first team as a back-up.
Biancheri makes it 17
Ethan Wheatley was one of six goalscorers on the night. Tyler Fredricson, Ethan Williams, Gabriele Biancheri, Ashton Missin, and James Scanlon also scored in the 6-0 win.
Gabriele Biancheri’s goal continued his impressive form. He now has 17 goals in all competitions.
Biancheri has scored 11 goals for the under-18s, and if you include his UEFA Youth League goals with his strikes for the under-21s, he has six. This would make him the top scorer in both categories.
Both young players are 18, although Biancheri is yet to figure in a first team squad, unlike Wheatley.
There is real competition to earn a spot, especially with Chido Obi-Martin looming too.
Wheatley’s celebration might have been his ploy to ensure he gets noticed, and does not get overtaken.
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