Will young Manchester United talent get a first team chance?
Manchester United’s talented under-23 side drew at home to Middlesbrough last night but the result was enough to see them progress to the knockout stages of the Premier League International Cup as group winners.
Captaining the side was young centre-back Axel Tuanzebe, who has been consistently impressive for the club’s academy over the past three years.
Tuanzebe featured in pre-season under new United boss Jose Mourinho, but the 19-year-old is yet to make his competitive debut for the club.
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho with Axel Tuanzebe
Like Timothy Fosu-Mensah, Tuanzebe is a highly rated talent who a number of United fans believe has the ability to make the step up.
The Mirror reported this week that Tuanzebe was called into the first team squad to train by Jose Mourinho, along with Sean Goss, who was on the scoresheet from the penalty spot last night.
Tuanzebe’s prospects of progressing the first team have though been dealt a blow this month.
Marcos Rojo and Phil Jones have played well at centre-back for a number of games, and are showing themselves to be viable first team options, which was not considered the case when the season began for varying reasons.
The Times also report United are planning to spend £42 million on Benfica centre-back Victor Lindelof, who at 22 is just three years Tuanzebe’s senior.
It is too early to call out Jose Mourinho’s commitment to youth, but the Red Devils need to give their talented England under-20 international a fair chance of making a breakthrough.
Here is a look at how United fans reacted on Twitter to his performance last night…
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
