United’s Head of Academy Nick Cox has named two former Manchester United stars he thinks Chido Obi and Harry Amass can emulate at Old Trafford.
Manchester United’s Academy has been the brightest spark in an otherwise gloomy 18 months at the club.
Erik ten Hag managed to end last season with an FA Cup victory, but his departure in October marked the end of a turbulent spell. His successor, Rúben Amorim, has yet to inspire consistent results or belief in the senior squad.
In contrast, the Academy is thriving. The U18s are in a full-throttle title battle with Man City, while the U21s sit fifth in Premier League 2.
United have also been busy strengthening their youth setup with exciting additions like Chido Obi and Sekou Kone, while the development of players such as Gabriele Biancheri and Jaydan Kamason has been a testament to the club’s continued investment in its future.
Obi and Amass tipped to replicate United duo
While some of United’s most successful Academy players have risen through the ranks from a young age, such as Marcus Rashford and Kobbie Mainoo in the last decade, others are those who have joined at the age of 16 before making their debuts in the following seasons.
It is a very regular pathway that has been trodden by multiple United greats, with young striker Obi and left-back Harry Amass the latest pairing to make their debuts for the club after signing as 16-year-olds.
United’s Head of Academy, Nick Cox, has been speaking about the duo’s rise at the club and explained that he hopes the pair can emulate those like Alejandro Garnacho and the “world-class” Paul Pogba.
“Every journey to our first team is different, and the beauty of our program is we try and make sure that we cater for as many different individuals and as many different routes to success.
“Occasionally, we’ll have boys that go right through the program like Kobbie. We’re really proud of that, but we’re equally proud of boys that arrive a little bit further on in the journey, and that’s really been a Manchester United winning formula over the years.
“The youth team has got young players that have been at the club for a long time, with local players that understand the club and its values, and then some really high potential players that arrive from further afield. You mix those two groups of players together and you get a really wonderful environment.
“Harry and Chido (have arrived) here a little bit later than Kobbie did, but they follow in the footsteps of Paul Pogba, Alejandro Garnacho, or dare I say Bobby Charlton arriving from the northeast or George Best arriving from Northern Ireland.”
Who else could make their debuts this season?
Since Obi and Amass made their debuts, United also saw Tyler Fletcher put in a very impressive display against Wolverhampton Wanderers during his first minutes from the club.
As for other debuts, Amorim has admitted that he will be relying on Academy players to fill in the gaps in the Premier League amid the club’s focus on the rest of the Europa League campaign.
Those such as Jack Fletcher, Jack Moorhouse, and Godwill Kukonki are expected to be in contention for starts before the end of the season.
As for which games they will play, it’s expected that the away fiture aginst Brentford will contain a number of Academy players due to it being sandwiched between the two Europa League semi-final legs agaisnt Athleic Bilbao.
The home tie aginst Aston Villa on the final day of the season is also a pretty dead-rubber game for United, consdiering that it takes place after the Europa League final and there is little urgancy for United to climb the league table before the season ends amid no threat of relegation.
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