Erik ten Hag has backed more academy products to break into the Manchester United team following the success of the side’s starlets this season.
Kobbie Mainoo has been one of the breakout stars of the Premier League campaign and has impressed since cementing a role in Ten Hag’s team, while Alejandro Garnacho has become a regular after shining during the club’s FA Youth Cup triumph in 2022.
Willy Kambwala, Daniel Gore and Omari Forson have also been handed Premier League debuts this season, with the Red Devils boasting a number of exciting teenage talents produced from within the club’s ranks.
Speaking ahead of Sunday’s clash with Luton at his pre-match press conference, Ten Hag has backed more young players to make an impression in the senior side.
“The only thing what I know, I think, Man United will always be a buying club, but I think at Man United that proves the history.
“It’s in the DNA of the club [that it] always has given opportunities for a way through the Academy into the first team as a player deserves it.
“In my opinion, there were players who had the potential and we have given them the time to develop and to progress.
“We are mentoring them in their way through, because we saw their potential was higher than the current squad players in that moment in that position.
“We also have taken moments into account that they couldn’t break or bring the levels in that moment.
“But you see, when you give them the opportunity, they progress so quickly, and they bring the team to higher levels in the long term.
“You have to prove it and you have to prove it when the occasion is there. And, of course, you never know. But that is about the knowledge from the staff and if they think they can do it.
“You assess the potential of the player. We were convinced of those players and I think we still have, in the back of our squad, such young players who can also make those steps, like Kobbie and Garnacho, who have also made [those] in the last couple of months.”
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