Kids remain a key pillar at Old Trafford
UNITED might get ribbed by their rivals for celebrating a Youth Cup triumph like a senior honour, but there is a genuine reason why success in midweek could well provide the blueprint for the firstteam to follow in the years ahead.
As the most successful side in the illustrious history of the youth tournament, it can be dangerous to presume United are entitled to future successes simply because of their past exploits.
United boast a record of having an academy graduate part of their firstteam squad for the last 4,146 matches and can unravel a list of 243 youth products who have made their senior debut for the club, but the real achievement is to maintain such a heritage and embrace the enormous responsibility placed upon them.
Victory in the Youth Cup on Wednesday night was another step in the right direction, and further reward for one pillar of the club which has been effectively overhauled in recent memory.
Prior to being appointed the club’s inaugural football director last year, John Murtough was tasked with overseeing the overhaul of United’s overhaul of the academy and recruitment department.
A key aspect of the rebuild was putting the right personnel in place around the academy.
Murtough brought Nick Cox into the club and backed his appointment as the head of the academy, taking over the role from club great Nicky Butt. That summer also saw Youth Cup winning manager Travis Binnion arrive at the club as the head of
player development at U14-U16 level, before taking his latest role as U18 lead coach a year ago.
It was last summer that United moved to appoint Justin Cochrane too – just as important, though, has been the recruitment of players.
As part of the academy overhaul, United revamped their scouting and coaching operations to ensure they were competing for the best available talent.
It was Murtough who chaperoned teenager Hannibal Mejbri at United’s 2019 pre-season friendly with Kristiansund in Norway.
A year later, and United scoured Spain for a trio of top talents. Alvaro Fernandez joined from Real Madrid, Marc Jurado from Barcelona, and Alejandro Garnacho from Atletico Madrid.
United’s academy resurgence has been underpinned by significantly increased investment, but spending money counts for very little if it isn’t spent wisely. With the appointment of Erik ten Hag this summer comes another chance for United to overhaul a key pillar of the club.