Manchester United’s present looks bleak, but the future is as promising as it has ever been, with a crucial part of it already impressing first-team players.
It is no secret that despite Ruben Amorim largely ignoring the academy this season, both the U18s and the U21s have been on a sterling run of form.
The U21s are undefeated in the league, while the sole defeat for the U18s came in the recent game against Manchester City.
Clearly, the talent United have in their academy is the envy of the country right now, so to stand out as the crown jewel of that crop is quite high praise.
Man Utd players impressed by Shea Lacey
In terms of pure ability on the ball, there is arguably not a youngster better than Shea Lacey in Man Utd’s academy, and probably right up there in all of England.
Injury worries had halted Lacey’s momentum, but he has shaken off his latest issue and is coming into red-hot form in recent games.
From impressing against senior professionals to scoring goals for fun against the U21s, Lacey’s form and fitness are coming together at the perfect time.
The Daily Mail reports that Lacey’s ascent hasn’t gone unnoticed in first-team circles either, with the players impressed by his level of technical talent.
United are ‘taking it slow’ to avoid further injury setbacks to their crown jewel by managing his minutes, but people close to him are finding it hard not to get excited about his potential.
Ruben Amorim needs to nurture Lacey
The academy record of Amorim isn’t very good because he hasn’t looked at it at all, outside of a period last season when all the eggs were in the Europa League basket.
He hasn’t shown an inclination to give debuts because players deserve it; the debuts have come when he literally had no other choice.
That’s not the path he should take with Lacey, because his less-than-physical side of the game is already worrying Man Utd fans about his prospects of a breakout under Amorim.
Lacey is a maestro from the old-school of football where the creator sat between the lines and weaved his magic through scoring or assisting.
With his left-footedness, he’s the perfect candidate for the right-sided No. 10 role as Bryan Mbeumo’s backup, albeit with less athleticism at this stage of his career.
He’s a prospect that Amorim needs to nurture, because if he doesn’t, then the manager who follows him definitely will. The talent is undeniable.
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