Four teens spotted in Manchester United training including £3.5m 18-year-old

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Four teenagers have been spotted training with Erik ten Hag’s first-team today ahead of Manchester United’s Premier League trip to Tottenham Hotspur with Willy Kambwala among them.

Clearly, Ten Hag buys into the old ‘if you’re good enough, you’re old enough’ mantra.

Alejandro Garnacho, despite only turning 18 last summer, is already a regular in the senior set-up at Old Trafford, producing game-changing contributions against the likes of Fulham, West Ham United and Manchester City.

Facundo Pellistri has impressed when called upon too. And 17-year-old Kobbie Mainoo made a first-team debut against Charlton Athletic in January, earning praise from his manager.

The likes of Isak Hansen-Aaroen, Maxi Oyedele, Marc Jurado and Willy Kambwala should, therefore, be confident that opportunities will come their way if they continue to impress behind the scenes at Carrington.

All four were spotted in first-team training on Tuesday; put through their paces alongside the likes of Marcus Rashford, Casemiro and Anthony Martial, via the Academy Arena UTD Twitter page.

Ten Hag running the rule over Manchester United starlets

19-year-old Jurado, formerly of Barcelona, recently travelled with the squad for the 2-0 win away at Nottingham Forest. Salford-born Oyedele has impressed on loan at Altrinham; scoring four goals in 12 National League games.

A Norway U19 international; Hansen-Aaroen will be hoping to follow in the footsteps of Ronny Johnsen and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at Old Trafford. The stylish central midfielder is a regular fixture in United’s reserve side.

Fellow 18-year-old Kambwala, meanwhile, only recently forced his way into the U23 set up. The latest in a long line of exciting young French centre-halves; Manchester United snapped up Kambwala from Sochaux for a fee in the region of £3.5 million back in September 2020.

With Lisandro Martinez and Raphael Varane injured, perhaps Kambwala could join Jurado in securing a place in Ten Hag’s matchday squad between now and the end of the season.

Kambwala, like now-Bayern Munich stopper Dayot Upamecano, rose though the ranks across the Channel. If things had worked out differently, the £36 million Bundesliga champion could have joined United too, before making his name in Germany with RB Leipzig.

“I was meant to sign for Manchester United,” Upamecano told Onze Mondial recently.

“So, I said goodbye to everyone, thanked everyone and packed my bags. (But) I had to return to Valenciennes. It was really difficult. Everyone attacked me.

“And there, I understood one thing; when you are not sure of something, you should never say it. I learned that at 16, you have to hold your tongue.”