Manchester United’s forgotten starlet included in FC Porto squad – he’s been compared to Roy Keane

One of Manchester United’s forgotten starlets has been included in the squad to face FC Porto in the Europa League this week.

Manchester United have some important fixtures coming up, with Erik ten Hag’s job seemingly at risk if the team cannot get victories in these upcoming games.

Fortunately, for the club and manager, 19-year-old starlet Kobbie Mainoo is fit and ready to play after an injury scare last time out against Tottenham Hotspur.

The Europa League game against FC Porto could also provide chances for other talents and one player in particular could be a surprise inclusion after a long time away from the pitch.

Dan Gore made his United debut on his 19th birthday towards the start of last season but it was decided that a loan would be best for his development in the January window.

However, Gore only managed to make one appearance while on loan at Port Vale, with the youngster facing major injury problems during his time there.

Those issues followed him into the summer but he managed to make his comeback for the Under-21s last month.

Gore has since made two further appearances for the youth team, including on Tuesday night where he was brought off midway through the second half.

That appeared to be a pre-planned move as the 20-year-old has since been included in United’s travelling squad to Portugal for Thursday’s game.

Many fans may have forgotten about Gore in recent months due to the injury concerns but there was a lot of hype surrounding the all-action midfielder last summer.

The teenager joined United from Burnley in 2018. His previous youth coach, Lewis Craig, has previously explained how he sees the midfielder as a future captain and made comparisons to United legend Roy Keane.

“He’s captain material I’d say,” Craig told the Manchester Evening News.

“Almost like your old-school Roy Keane type with hard challenges, but he’s got unbelievable quality on the ball because he was a forward in the past as well.”

It is brilliant to see Gore back in action and he will be hoping to potentially make his first appearance for United’s first-team since December 2023.

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