Manchester United's proud record, having had at least one academy player in the squad since 1937, is under threat after Kobbie Mainoo was injured. The "Red Devils" were forced to call up an 18-year-old player for a trip to London.
Man United travel to Tottenham's home ground, but will not have the presence of Mainoo - a player who has been a regular on the bench this season. This is a regrettable loss for the team's young talent, and his absence also leaves a big gap in coach Ruben Amorim's squad.
Man United's tradition of nurturing young talent has helped this team always have at least one academy player in the starting lineup for the past 88 years - an impressive statistic spanning 4,332 consecutive matches. However, Mainoo's injury is threatening this record.
It is still unclear which academy talent Amorim will choose to continue to maintain his record streak, but he has prepared a plan. Young player Jack Fletcher (18 years old) could be brought to the bench.
Meanwhile, this season, Mainoo is the only academy graduate player to regularly feature in the starting lineup. Young defender Tyler Fredricson only played once, in the loss to Grimsby in the Carabao Cup.
The "Red Devils" options have become more limited when Marcus Rashford moved to Barcelona on loan this summer. Meanwhile, Amorim has also created opportunities for many other young players to play abroad on loan.
Players such as Dan Gore, Ethan Williams and Elyh Harrison are all temporarily on leave or playing for other teams for development. That leaves Man United with few domestic options for the first team this weekend, forcing them to rely on the talents of the youth team.
The 1992 generation is perhaps the best generation in the history of Man United's academy, with many names such as David Beckham, Paul Scholes and his Neville brothers becoming pillars in the title-ful era under Sir Alex Ferguson. Even after the Scots retired, these players continue to shine and leave a deep impression.
Danny Welbeck was also a reliable option under David Moyes, before being sold by Van Gaal. It was under Van Gaal that Rashford emerged as a young talent and since his breakthrough a decade ago, he has been almost always in the starting lineup. During his tenure, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has also given debut opportunities to many young players at Man United.
"First of all, I think we can't focus on just two factors: the stability of the squad and the results. We can change the starting lineup, especially when we only play one match a week.
The important thing is to maintain competitiveness throughout the team. Therefore, I need to make some changes, not only for the short term but also for the long term.
I think the whole team is improving. We won thanks to better training and better grasp of the game. We have more options now, and so the consistency in results comes from the whole team, not just the starting lineup," Amorim said before the Tottenham game.
