Ruben Amorim showed against Spurs by including Jack Fletcher in the first-team squad that he is aware of the ethos of the club, and Bendito Mantato might be close to becoming his first-team solution now.
So far, there have been no debutants from the academy at Man Utd in a season where even the senior players have found it hard to get minutes.
However, things are set to change after Harry Maguire and Benjamin Sesko’s injury left Man Utd scrambling for options.
Amidst these two forced absences, Ruben Amorim won’t forget that he has another headache at Old Trafford, one which Bendito Mantato took another step towards solving.
Bendito Mantato impresses for England U17
Mantato has long been dubbed as an exciting prospect among the youth ranks at Carrington, so he was one to watch in the U17 World Cup.
United scouts at the tournament will have already been excited with the performances of Cristian Orozco, but Mantato provides a more immediate solution to a bigger headache.
In the most recent England U17 game, Mantato started against Egypt and saw through a 3-0 win to ensure the country’s qualification for the next stage.
The United wonderkid played the full 90 minutes, creating one big chance with a key pass and being an all-action presence in defence.
He was a bit careless on the ball, losing possession 11 times, but that was partly down to his adventurous instincts of playing the difficult pass. (Stats courtesy of Sofascore)
Most importantly for Ruben Amorim, he did all that playing in a position that translates extremely well to his first-team squad.
Mantato can solve Amorim’s left wing-back issue at Man Utd
Mantato played as the left-back for England against Egypt, continuing his versatile ways, which have seen him likened to Bukayo Saka in the past.
Saka was also a flying full-back in the Arsenal academy before his attacking gifts became too good to ignore, resulting in him becoming a left-footed right-winger.
There’s no winger position in Amorim’s system, but it suits Mantato perfectly, because his attacking talent, combined with the experience of playing as a left-back, makes him the perfect wing-back.
He’s already “half winger/half full-back”, which is basically what a wing-back is, and the more experience he gets playing in either position, the better he gets at playing the amalgamation of both those roles, which is wing-back.
As Diogo Dalot and Patrick Dorgu struggle to make that position their own with authority, Mantato’s inclusion in that equation might just be the shot in the arm needed to get everyone firing.
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