There are five Manchester United Academy graduates Rúben Amorim must look to start as he prepares his squad to face Wolverhampton Wanderers on Sunday afternoon.
Manchester United are set to resume Premier League action on Sunday afternoon, facing Wolverhampton Wanderers at Old Trafford.
Rúben Amorim’s side comes off a dramatic 7-6 aggregate win over Olympique Lyonnais at Old Trafford, booking their place in the Europa League semi-finals, where they’ll meet Athletic Bilbao.
Amorim will also be aiming for revenge against Vitor Pereira’s Wolves, who handed United a 2-0 loss back in December, with goals from Matheus Cunha and Hwang Hee-Chan sealing the victory.
The 40-year-old manager will be keen for his players to build on the momentum of their thrilling win over Lyon as they return to domestic action.
Amorim recently commented that he will be pivoting to using Academy and young players in the Premier League to focus on winning the Europa League, and there are five such players he must consider starting against Wolves.
#1 – Harry Amass
Harry Amass’ emergence in the last few weeks under Amorim has been fantastic, with the player making his debut against Leicester just before the international break.
He then started against Newcastle and played 20 minutes against Lyon, with Amorim stating after the game that the 18-year-old “did very well” under pressure.
With Patrick Chinazaekpere Dorgu playing 100 minutes on Thursday evening, Amorim should look to hand Amass the chance to play his first start at Old Trafford.
#2 – Chido Obi
Amorim starting Chido Obi is likely to be the most exciting and highly anticipated of these five picks, considering the promise and potential he has shown during the last six months with the Academy and first team.
Obi has made three appearances under Amorim so far, including a fantastic cameo against Fulham in the FA Cup, but has not been seen since due to the availability of Joshua Zirkzee and Rasmus Højlund.
However, with Zirkzee now out for the season, Amorim has confirmed that 17-year-old Obi will likely receive multiple Premier League appearances before the end of the campaign, pointing to the notion that he may replace Højlund as the starting striker on Sunday.
#3 – Jaydan Kamason
Amorim singled out Diogo Dalot as a player who is very much suffering from fatigue following his number of minutes of late – the Portuguese international has played every single minute of the club’s last 19 fixtures, as well as starting against Denmark twice in March.
But, with the Premier League of lesser importance to Amorim, this provides the head coach with the perfect chance to hand Kamason his Premier League debut.
The 18-year-old was on the bench as United defeated Lyon on Thursday evening and has been touted as an energetic and dangerous potential addition to the club’s starting team in the future as a right wing-back.
#4 – Jack Moorhouse
Jack Moorhouse is another attacking talent at the club who is widely regarded as one of the best ball-carrying forwards across England, and his talent has been on display for both the U18s and U21s this campaign.
With there being a possibility that Mason Mount may feature from the start as part of the front three on the left, Moorhouse could be a perfect addition to United’s forward line on the right.
Alejandro Garnacho has started the club’s last 11 fixtures in a row and 18 of the last 20, and is well deserving of a rest. With a lack of other senior attacking options, Moorhouse could fill Garnacho’s role as a runner in Amorim’s system.
#5 – Kobbie Mainoo
While Kobbie Mainoo is a much more established first-team player than any of the other four names on this list, he is still an Academy graduate and is well deserving of a start.
When fit and able to play, Mainoo is one of the best young midfielders in the world, and while Amorim will be looking to hand many of his first-team players a rest against Wolves, the head coach must take the chance to hand Mainoo his first start in over two months in order to build his match fitness.
Mainoo is yet to nail down a consistent position under Amorim due to a plethora of injury issues this season.
Against Wolves, Amorim has the chance to experiment with Mainoo by starting him either as a deeper midfielder or one of the attacking midfielders while also building his fitness ahead of the Europa League semi-final.
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