Manchester United have big plans for left-back Harry Amass, and intend to manage his development carefully.
There are times when opportunity knocks and bringing youth players into the first team accelertes their development – see Marcus Rashford’s debut.
And there are other times where a more cautious path is chosen. Harry Amass is a case in point.
Simply because Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia are injured, United are not rushing Amass into competitive matches before he is 100 per cent ready.
Amass in training
Harry Amass was pictured at Carrington with the Manchester United first team squad on Monday.
This was notable as Amass was not included on the bench for the Community Shield or for Manchester United’s opening game of the Premier League season.
The 17-year-old featured in all of United’s pre-season games and Erik ten Hag believes he can follow Kobbie Mainoo’s path into the first team.
But it’s also notable to recall that in Mainoo’s debut season, 2022/23, Ten Hag took until January to bring him in, and did not select Alejandro Garnacho that year until September.
The manager will bring a young player in when the time is right, and not before, and intends to work closely with Amass to get him to the right point.
Being back involved in first team training is just a reminder he remains highly regarded despite the natural disappointment he will have felt at missing the last two senior matches.
Amass playing youth games
Amass was not present at Old Trafford on Friday night as he was in North London playing an under-21 game against Arsenal.
This will have proved mentally challenging for Amass, and it was a poor team performance with the team losing 4-2 on the night.
Amass did leave the match with an assist, delivering a low cross for Ethan Wheatley to score his first goal of the season.
It’s possible Amass will be in action on Tuesday night (19/8) too when the under-21 side take on Barnsley in the EFL Trophy.
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