One of Manchester United’s youngster from the Academy has shown his mental strength following a difficult loan spell last season.
Manchester United’s biggest problem in the 2024/25 season was a lack of goals. Despite a decent return in the Europa League, Rasmus Hojlund only managed four Premier League goals. Additionally, Joshua Zirkzee was inconsistent and has started to be utilised in a deeper position.
Wingers Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Antony all spent the back half of the season out on loan and now look likely to depart the club permanently, so the goals that they scored in previous seasons will need to be made up elsewhere.
In order to rectify this issue, Ruben Amorim has been attempting to sign a new striker and has also successfully signed Matheus Cunha from Wolves.
Additionally, he has experimented with using Chido Obi despite only being 17 years old. This willingness to include young players will be a promising sign for another United youngster following a disappointing loan spell last season.
Ethan Wheatley’s season was difficult
Ethan Wheatley was United’s 250th Academy graduate and is one of the players to be promoted to the first-team after being developed by Nick Cox, who is reported to be now leaving the club.
Wheatley joined League Two side Walsall on loan in January, but only made four League appearances for the club and returned to some United academy fixtures in the final months of the season. Simon Peach with the Independent has reported that the United staff were perplexed by Walsall’s usage of Wheatley during his time there.
A large part of the reason that the Walsall spell was disappointing for the club is that they only gave him the same number of appearances that Erik ten Hag had in the previous season, despite Walsall playing three divisions below United.
Wheatley is currently featuring for England’s under-19 side at the Euros and scored in the Three Lions’ 5-5 draw with Germany earlier this week.
Wheatley optimistic about the future
While his spell at Walsall was a difficult one, the 2024 Jimmy Murphy Award winner has not let that dissuade him from proving himself as a player of United quality.
Wheatley had displayed his mental strength this week after giving an interview with PA and explaining that the Under-19s European Championship is the best way to show Amorim his level.
“My second half of the season has been frustrating, not being able to show what I’m about, really, but I think this tournament is the perfect way to do it,” he said.
“I think there’ll be a lot of eyes on it, and obviously representing your country in a Euros, there’s not much better than that. It’ll be good to hopefully impress and, just for myself and for the team, play my part and do well.”
Read More: Manchester United in four-team race for “exceptional” Bundesliga star after he made transfer demand
Where some may have seen Wheatley returning to United’s academy before his loan spell was even over as a negative, the young striker took a positive swing. “The club have been good with me. They’ve let me come back and play a few 21s games just to keep my legs going, so it’s been good to be back at United, developing and getting game time,” he added.
There is currently significant pressure on any player who plays upfront for United, and Wheatley has shown that he possesses the mental fortitude to handle it. Even if United sign a main new striker, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Wheatley tested out in the first team or sent out on loan to a higher-profile club that sees his value.
Make sure to follow UtdDistrict on X, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok to never miss out on any of our Manchester United content. Our podcast, What the Devil?, is streamed live every Thursday at 12:30 pm (BST) on the United View YouTube channel.