While Man United have always been proud of their record of bringing youth players into the first team, it does feel like things aren’t set up to allow that to happen just now.
The squad is so bloated that there are lots of senior players who will come in to cover any injuries and they’ll tend to play in the less important cup games, while it’s obvious that there’s some real pressure to get results on the pitch just now.
The team are struggling to put good performances together so that’s not ideal for a younger player either, so it’s not a surprise that their talented youth players are starting to leave the club.
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Angel Gomes will probably go down as the highest profile to leave this summer, but Nice have just announced the signing of Ayodejo Sotona from United on a permanent deal.
He’s played at youth level for Ireland and their report makes it sound like he will be around the first team squad this season, so it will be interesting to see if he can force his way into the team.