Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has been keen on giving young players a chance to play and shine at Manchester United. That is exactly what he did last night when he gave young Teden Mengi his first game in a United shirt. The introduction of Mengi meant that the Red Devils have handed eight academy graduates their debuts in the first-team this season.
Along with Mengi, Brandon Williams, Ramazani, Mellor, Laird, Bernard, Galbraith and Dylan Levitt have also made first-team debuts this season. For the first time, after the 1952/53 campaign, have United given eight academy graduates their debuts in the first-team. This speaks volumes about Solskjaer’s vision and attitude towards young academy graduates, who once again didn’t let him down.
Mengi was delighted to play his first game for United and put in a good shift when he came on in place of Fosu-Mensah. The 18-year old has replaced ailing Axel Tuanzebe in the United’s Europa League squad for the rest of the tournament. Solskjaer hailed the youngster saying “He is a leader, a centre-back, someone we believe in, he’s strong, quick, good on the ball and I think we’ve got a good player there.”
What a feeling☺️, proud moment for me and my family tonight to make my debut for @manchesterunited at old Trafford, Big thank you to everyone for the support. Time to kick on 🚀 pic.twitter.com/FtUSQpOKyR
— Teden Mengi (@TedenMengi_) August 5, 2020
With age by his side and experience under his belt, Mengi will only get better if he keeps his head down.
