Manchester United’s stunning collapse away at Chelsea last week may have felt like another low point in a season chock-full of them but, if there was one gleaming ray of positivity, it was the performance of Ajelandro Garnacho.
The teenager, making his 30 start in a row in all competitions, reached double figures for goal involvements in the Premier League for the first time with a brace at Stamford Bridge. Kobbie Mainoo, his fellow Carrington graduate, was another stand-out performer as Manchester United’s kids once again produced performances to shame their far-more experienced team-mates.
Mainoo, masterful up against Chelsea’s £220 million midfield duo, has now started each of the last 15 league games himself.
And if you’ve been following Man United’s next generation of rising stars closely, you’d be forgiven for looking to the future with a renewed sense of optimism, regardless of what the final few weeks of a fraught campaign may bring.
Manchester United’s class of ’24?
In Amir Ibragimov, Harry Amass, Zach Baumann, Shea Lacey, Jayce Fitzgerald, Ethan Williams, Ethan Wheatley, Gabriele Biancheri and the Fletcher twins – Jack and Tyler – some are referring to Man United’s U18 roster as the most exciting collection of talents since the fabled ‘Class of ‘92’.
Lacey, maybe the jewel of this Carrington crop, is still only 16 but was spotted training with Erik ten Hag’s first-team this week. The Man United official website also provided snaps of Wheatley and Jack Fletcher being put through their paces alongside the likes of Marcus Rashford and Bruno Fernandes ahead of Saturday night’s trip to AFC Bournemouth.
And the eagle-eyed among you may have spotted that Wheatley and Fletcher appear to have been handed first-team squad numbers. A hint, perhaps, that there may be a few senior minutes coming the way of the teenage duo. Wheatley appears to be wearing number 84, with Fletcher donning number 85.
Left-back Amass, handed a role in Ten Hag’s matchday squad for the first time during last Sunday’s 2-2 draw with Liverpool, recently received the number 70 shirt.
Read more: Who is Jack Fletcher? Meet Man Utd’s rising talent, including his father and twin brother
Ethan Wheatley and Jack Fletcher training under TEn Hag
Amass has been a revelation since joining from Watford last summer, with some asking if United should really be in the market for a new left-back when they have such a talent rising through the ranks.
Wheatley, meanwhile, hit a hat-trick during the 9-1 hammering of Liverpool’s U18 side five days ago. A classic penalty-box poacher, Wheatley now has 18 goals and five assists at youth level this term.
Meanwhile Jack Fletcher, snapped up from Man City alongside brother Tyler, appears to possess his father Darren’s poise and passing range in the centre of the park. The apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree in the Fletcher family, it seems.
“Erik Ten Hag has been watching Jack (Fletcher) closely for several months now and has been really impressed,” wrote The Sun in November. “He thinks he has huge potential which is why he decided to promote him to train with the first team.
“Ten Hag is now working with his staff to put a plan in place to try and develop and fast-track Jack’s progress.
“He is likely to go out on loan next season but Erik believes, in the long term, he has a massive future at United. He’s been wowed by his attitude, and his maturity and – thinks he is the latest in an exciting crop of talent to be coming through at United.”