One Manchester United Academy star could be in line for a professional debut when AFCON kicks off in December, as Rúben Amorim prepares to be without a number of first-team starters.
Manchester United head into the November international break in joint fifth, sitting on 18 points, just four off second-placed rivals, Manchester City.
Rúben Amorim’s side has seen vast improvements since the end of last season, thanks to their summer business, which transformed United’s forward line and also brought in a new goalkeeper in Senne Lammens, who has now established himself as the club’s starting goalkeeper.
While Benjamin Šeško is yet to fully adapt to the Premier League, the two signings with vast league experience, Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha, have been excellent.
Mbeumo, in particular, has been a revelation since making the switch from Brentford, scoring five league goals, as well as winning the league’s Player of the Month award for October.
However, the Africa Cup of Nations, which gets underway just before Christmas, is set to cause a big problem for Amorim’s plans, as he will lose Mbeumo, as well as Amad and Noussair Mazraoui.
Shea Lacey could be in line for his professional debut
While it will be very hard to replicate the output from United’s Cameroonian winger, Academy star Shea Lacey could pick up some minutes when AFCON gets underway, as reported by The Sun.
The 18-year-old plays in a similar position to Mbeumo, excelling as an attacking midfielder on the right side of the pitch, and has been training regularly with Amorim’s first team, as well as recently being invited to train with Thomas Tuchel’s England squad last month.
After dealing with injury problems in recent seasons that have hampered his development, Lacey looks to have finally left that behind him and could soon be in line for first-team football.
The young Englishman seemingly sent a message to Amorim recently, putting on an “excellent” performance for United’s U21 side against League One side Notts County in the EFL Trophy, where they emerged 2-0 winners.
Amorim may finally put faith into the youth
At his previous club, Sporting, Amorim had a strong track record of developing talented youth and letting them establish themselves as first-team players.
Players such as Goncalo Inacio, Nuno Mendes, and Geovany Quenda were all given their first chance by the current United boss, who have now firmly established themselves as starters at their respective clubs.
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While it would be naive to think that Lacey will pick up a lot of minutes during AFCON, being part of the first-team squad and even getting a couple of substitute minutes would still be beneficial for his development.
Due to United’s disastrous season last campaign, they now find themselves participating in just two competitions, the league and the FA Cup. As a result, virtually no minutes have been afforded to academy talent, but Amorim may now be forced to show some faith in the youth.
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