Manchester United have a great reputation for developing young players from the academy into first-team regulars.
This was especially pronounced during the era of Sir Alex Ferguson, as names like David Beckham, Gary Neville, and Paul Scholes progressed through the youth system to become great superstars. However, there is a danger of this tradition being lost with the club undergoing several managerial changes in the last three years. After experiencing more than two decades of stability under Ferguson, United have already gone through three managers since 2013.
Jose Mourinho has just arrived as the third manager and he has been given substantial amount of transfer money to improve the squad. The Portuguese is also expected to quickly bring success to Old Trafford. After managing to win the FA Cup last season, the club are now targeting at least two more trophies. Mourinho has already set the target of winning the Premier League in his first season at Old Trafford, while he would also realistically be targeting at the Europa League as well. However, he has already been criticising for this regarding youth in the chase for results. Last season’s most promising debutant – Marcus Rashford – has seen very little football, but Mourinho has promised to that the England international will be receiving game time in the future.
“Marcus will play a lot. I cannot choose competitions. I cannot say Zlatan doesn’t play one single match in the Europa League because that is not the case. I cannot say Marcus doesn’t start matches in the Premier League because that is not the case.Marcus is a young and talented player. That is why we didn’t buy more strikers. If you don’t trust him or want him to play, then you would buy other strikers. That is not the case,” said José Mourinho.
