Manchester United has always provided a platform for many up and coming youngsters to showcase their skills from all around the world. The club has always satisfied the Big Club dream of many young players and allowed them to display their talent on the large screen at Old Trafford .
The Manchester United youth team is statistically the most successful in English football and even all over the Europe and the world which produced some of the greatest talents, with nine players in the English football Hall of Fame, which include Duncan Edwards, Sir Bobby Charlton, George Best, Nobby Stiles, Mark Hughes, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, David Beckham and Johnny Giles.
Manchester United has produced, including the club’s top five all-time appearance makers, Ryan Giggs, Bobby Charlton, Bill Foulkes, Paul Scholes and Gary Neville who were nurtured from a young age by the Club.
The Red Devils also gave the footballing world some of the newer exotic and incredible talents like the legendary Wayne Rooney, the magnificent and arguably the Greatest of All Time (GOAT), Cristiano Ronaldo among many other extraordinary football talents.
Now, though the club is facing some problems, the young blood of the Manchester United are keen on bringing the glory days back to the Old Trafford and revolutionize the club’s fate post Sir Alex Ferguson era.
Here are three young talents of Manchester United who might become club legends some day:
3. Marcus Rashford
The homegrown youth product has already come such a long way in a short time and having the incredible talent of scoring on his debuts has helped to cement his place in the first squad of Manchester United.
The fleet-footed forward found the net on his first England appearance, within a couple of minutes of the 2-1 win over Australia at Sunderland’s Stadium to become the youngest player to score a goal on his Three Lions international debut, beating Tommy Lawton’s long standing 1938 record.
Marcus Rashford was boosted into the senior team spotlight in February 2016 due to his amazing run at the academy level with spectacular results and has not looked back since his debut for the Manchester United.
Jose Mourinho continued to show faith in the youngster and recognized his talents which became ever more important for club and country later on.
The 22 year old striker nervelessly fired home a penalty in the dramatic shoot-out win over Colombia at the World Cup finals and would later show similar steel to power the injury-time spot-kick past Gianluigi Buffon to knock Paris Saint-Germain out of the 2018/19 Champions League at the Parc des Princes.
Following Romelu Lukaku’s departure to Inter Milan, he has been a consistent go-to striker for the club due to his mental fortitude and amazing striking ability. He has shouldered a lot of responsibility in attack and ran tirelessly in games, defending from the front and displaying great energy in the Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s United.
ALSO READ – 11 Facts About Marcus Rashford
The goals continued to flow for the homegrown product as he scooped the club’s Player-of-the-Month award for November and December, and also the overall PFA Premier League prize for the last month of 2019. He marked his 200th appearance for the club in January. In 201 appearances for the Manchester United he netted 64 goals making him a prominent forward to look up to in the future for the club.
2. Mason Greenwood
Mason was top scorer in the Under-18 Premier League North in 2017/18, while still a schoolboy and being eligible for Under-16 level. An exciting striker who has been well ahead of schedule in terms of his progress through the ranks at United.
The 18 year old has evolved from a classic no.10 player to more of a centre-forward, the forward is equally talented with both feet and capable of creating magic out of nothing.
The England Under-18 international enjoyed a goal-filled start to the campaign for the Under-18s, and the Under-19s in the UEFA Youth League and it was announced on 2 October that Mason Greenwood had signed his first professional contract with the club. First squad debuts cannot come on much bigger platforms than at the Parc des Princes in the key second leg of a knockout Champions League tie with Paris Saint-Germain in March, 2019.
After moving to shirt no.26, he had a taste of the action in both United’s opening home game against Chelsea and away against Wolves fixtures in the Premier League. In September 2019, Greenwood became our youngest-ever goalscorer in European competition, scoring against FC Astana in the Europa League at Old Trafford.
Mason Greenwood has scored 12 goals in 41 appearances for the club where he scored all the 12 goals in this season (2019-20) for Manchester United.
1. Brandon Williams
Williams made his Under-18s debut as a substitute for the final minutes. The defender blossomed into a regular starter for the young Reds, making 22 appearances across domestic competitions and in the UEFA Youth League.
The Manchester local lad operates at the back with the capability of playing in both Central and Left defensive positions and made an incredible progress in the recent times.
Despite plenty of competition for a place, he worked hard to add a real attacking ability to his game and became a key component of Ole’s defence line-up. The teenager’s performances were rewarded in April 2018, when he signed his first professional contract with the club.
The 19 year old is a committed defender with power and passion, he scored four times in 23 games for the Under-18s in 2018/19. After a strong start to the 2019/20 campaign, during which he skippered the Under-23 side, Brandon was given his senior United debut at Old Trafford during the Carabao Cup tie against Rochdale on 25 September 2019. He managed to work his way into the side and scored his first Premier League goal in the 3-3 draw with Sheffield United in November 2019.
He made 12 appearances for the Manchester United first squad with 1 goal credited to his name this season. The young, powerful and creative defender plays a vital role in the United’s defence along side the likes of Harry Maguire and Aaron Wan-Bissaka in the future which boosts the defensive and offensive capabilities of the club.
