JAMES GARNER

CLUB: MANCHESTER UNITED AGE: 17 POSITION: MIDFIELD 2018-19 U23 APPS: 6 GOALS: 0 VALUE: £1M

WHAT HAS HE GOT?

THIS intelligent 17-year-old midfielder from Birkenhead may not look the biggest, the strongest or the quickest but he certainly is an emerging talent. Some midfielders don’t understand or appreciate their strengths or their weaknesses but here is a player who clearly does know exactly what he is good at. Sitting in the central area in front of his back four, he feeds his colleagues with passes that make it comfortable for the receiver. When I saw him, he casually side-stepped challenges, let the ball run across his body and delivered quick forward passes. That’s real quality. In the first half, when his team were constantly on top, Garner was never caught in possession, always moving the ball before a challenge came in. I like the way that he found space to receive. He always appeared to be in the thick of the action, always wanting the ball. I am sure statistical analysis would have confirmed that he had more touches than anybody else in his talented team. He is not a dribbler or a square and back-passing type.

WHAT DOES HE NEED?

HE HAD no obvious flaws that I saw. Maybe Garner (above) was not the quickest but his anticipation and positioning was key. It seems to come naturally to him, prodding and probing and keeping the play moving towards the opposition goal. It also looks as though he can handle the physical challenge of the game. He looks very mature for his age and one wonders whether Jose Mourinho will have the faith in him that he showed in Scott McTominay who was a couple of years older when he made his debut. There are probably similarities in his game with Nicky Butt, who is his coach at United. An excellent team player, not a flair player but an absolutely vital ingredient in a successful side in centre field. It may be that he gets a loan move to help his progress towards the first team.