Former Manchester United midfielder Luke Chadwick has named two players who stood out in the club’s friendly win over Derby County.
The ex-Red Devil was pleased to see Jesse Lingard in action for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side again after such a superb spell on loan at West Ham last season, while he also singled out Shola Shoretire as the most promising of the youngsters on display.
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Speaking exclusively to CaughtOffside, Chadwick admitted he wanted a clearer idea of Solskjaer’s plans for these players for the season ahead.
Of course, there’s still time for Man Utd to take a look at the duo for the rest of pre-season, but Chadwick seems to think there could be a role for them both.
“It was a good start to pre-season, considering all the established international players away,” Chadwick said.
“I thought Jesse Lingard looked sharp. It would be interesting to know the plan with him moving towards the start of the season.
“He was fantastic on loan at West Ham in the back-end of last season, probably one of the best players in the league at the time. Ole’s spoken positively about him, Lingard looked happy on the pitch, so it will be interesting to see if there’s a place for him.”
Shoretire got a neat assist for Facundo Pellistri’s goal against Derby, and it’s unsurprising to see that Chadwick was very impressed with what he saw from the 17-year-old.
“The shining light of the young players was Shola Shoretire,” Chadwick said. “He got a bit of match exposure last season, but again I’d like to know the plan for him. Will he be loaned out or does Ole see him in and around the squad this season?”
Shoretire looks another hugely impressive player coming through United’s academy, which continues to produce top players like Mason Greenwood, Marcus Rashford and Scott McTominay, while much of the team’s success in the Sir Alex Ferguson era was also built around homegrown talents like Paul Scholes, David Beckham, Ryan Giggs and Gary Neville.