Manchester United’s academy is blessed with quality young players coming through the ranks at all levels.
One player we have been hearing a lot about for a few seasons is Shola Shoretire, who became one of Manchester United’s youngest ever first team players in 2021.
Shoretire, now 19, has found chances tougher to come by since, with Erik ten Hag not convinced to promote him into his first team.
The youngster continues to plug away in the academy, and shone for the under-21s at the weekend in a 3-2 loss to Chelsea decided by an injury-time winner for the Blues.
Shola Shoretire show
Shola Shoretire was wearing the number seven shirt, an iconic number at the club, an unusual one for him.
He typically wears the number eight for the under-21s, before switching to seven for Friday night’s match.
The seven shirt did not weigh highly on Shoretire, instead he embraced it. He twice combined with midfielder Ruben Curley to score goals to bring United from 2-0 down to 2-2.
One of the goals was a bit of magic, a flick over a defender, an exchange of passes, and a low volley into the bottom corner. It was the type of goal another famous number seven, Eric Cantona, would have been proud of.
Shoretire has to make the jump to start doing this at a first team level. A loan would be the logical next step for him.
This season he has 14 goal contributions at academy level already, nine goals and five assists. He is the current under-21s top scorer.
Shoretire performance praised
Erik ten Hag did not follow up Shoretire’s display by calling him into the matchday squad to face Tottenham on Sunday.
He caught the attention of his colleagues though, with Kobbie Mainoo noting his more unusual shirt number, which could become familiar.
Hannibal Mejbri described his display as ‘sharp’, while former colleagues Anthony Elanga and Teden Mengi also chimed in.
Shoretire is a player with high potential, capable of making an impact in the final third, who Manchester United need to create a pathway for. It would be a crying shame if he was allowed to walk out the exit door on the cheap.
