Manchester United’s academy has produced some outstanding players over the years and their first team currently boasts several of these stars.
Perhaps the most famous of the bunch right now is Marcus Rashford. he has Played 426 times For the club though his future is still up in the air after missing last Sunday’s Manchester derby.
Kobbie Mainoo is flying the flag for the next generation of Carrington stars. The 19-year-old has thrived in the Premier League. Appeared 47 times Since his debut about 12 months ago.
Another notable academy star in the first team is Alejandro Garnacho, who has actually been linked with a move away from Old Trafford.
La Liga giants target Manchester United striker
Reaching the top is quite a feat for Ganaccio, who joined the Red Devils at 16 and made his debut at 17. Now 20 years old, he is already a stable member of the Old Trafford first team.
He has made a century of appearances for his famous old club, which is an extraordinary achievement at his age. Grenache has a total of Played 110 times While playing for Manchester United, he scored 23 goals and provided 13 assists.
Undoubtedly, his most exciting goal of that period was the stunning overhead kick against Everton in the 2023/24 season, which won him the 2024 Puskas Award.
The Argentina international has also made a fast start to the new season. He has scored 8 goals and has 4 assists Appeared 23 timesthree of which came in the Premier League. However, he was left out of the squad for last weekend’s 195th Manchester derby, along with Rashford. New coach Ruben Amorim explains.
“I look at everything – the way you eat, the way you dress when you play. Everything. I make an assessment and then I have to make a decision. I had a lot of players to choose from and today I made my choice.”
On the back of this form, and perhaps the fact that Amorim dropped him from the squad last weekend, La Liga giants Atletico Madrid are believed to have shown an interest in signing the winger. Spanish reports said Diego Simeone’s side were “targeting” the youngster during the winter. Dealing with Garnacho can be expensive CIES football observatory valued at £95m.
The potential transfer of the number 17 jersey may cause concern for Manchester United, who certainly do not want to lose one of their stars, and this transfer may cause history to repeat itself.
Manchester United hope to avoid transfer repeat
Cristiano Ronaldo was once the golden boy at Old Trafford, dominating English football with flashes of skill, pace and power. It’s rare for a Portuguese striker to go a weekend without scoring.
His best season with the Red Devils came in 2007/08, when he won his first Champions League. Ronaldo scored 42 goals and provided 8 assists in 49 gameswinning the Ballon d’Or a few months later.
Ronaldo’s statistics in various events in the 2007/08 season | |||
|---|---|---|---|
competition | game | Target | Assist |
Premier League | 34 | 31 | 7 |
Champions League | 11 | 8 | 1 |
FA Cup | 3 | 3 | 0 |
Community Shield | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Statistics come from transfer market | |||
One season later, at the end of the 2008/09 season, the legendary number seven left Old Trafford to join Real Madrid. The fee of 80 million pounds was a world record at the time. He just adds to his already great legacy at the Santiago Bernabeu, Scored 450 goals in 438 games For the club.
The similarities between Ronaldo’s move and the potential sale of Garnacho may be unsettling to some United fans. A big club in Madrid has come calling, looking to buy a quality winger for a staggering price that could set a club record sale.
The former Red Devils number seven even assisted his first goal for the club in the 2022 Europa League against Real Sociedad, a heavy strike that was scored by Garnacho.
However, Ronaldo’s former team-mate Paul Scholes even compared the pair. Time goes back to October 2022, The legendary former Manchester United midfielder explains The Argentine “reminds me of a young Cristiano” and cited “his technique and confident taking of the ball” as the reason.
For Red Devils fans, the similarities are almost coincidental and cannot be ignored. There may well be fears that one of their most exciting talents in years could also move to Madrid, following in that man’s footsteps almost as well he once called His “idol”.
Relevant
Amorim could soon release ‘incredible’ Manchester United teenager to replace Rashford
Manchester United could replace Marcus Rashford with an academy player.
