Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has one thing on his mind besides making Manchester United a successful team. He wants to promote youngsters into the first team. And he already started the process this season by giving some of the club’s biggest young talents their senior debuts.
Tahith Chong, James Garner and Mason Greenwood all made their senior debuts under Solskjaer, while Brandon Williams was part of the squad that travelled to France to take on Paris Saint-Germain. Angel Gomes came off the bench in the final game of the campaign against Cardiff City. But what does Solskjaer want to do with some of the prized youngsters next season?
The options are clear. It’s either sending them out on loan, or giving them the chance to win a senior squad spot here. Ole was straight up with this matter.
“I have to say it’s nice for them to get a full season somewhere and play but, then again, maybe the best place to be is here, training with the best players in the world”, Solskjaer said. “In this environment, we’ve got a history of making them [young players] the best but we’ve got loads of good experiences of players being out for a year and coming back as men. Let’s see what we decide with these boys but I can see most staying here and getting their chances next year.”
How does Solskjaer evaluate youngsters?
Plus, the Norwegian tactician shared some of his thought process when it comes to evaluating young players in an interview with the club’s official site. “It’s not down to me to base my judgement on a couple of games but sometimes if you’re 5-0 up or 1-0 down, I want to see them do the same thing – the right thing. It’s not about them but the right thing for the team. If you’ve got it at 16 or 17, you will have it when you get into the first team.”
“I love to see the kids expressing themselves. I want to see it at Old Trafford when they get there, to see who expresses themselves in the right way. Not showboating.”, he finished.
Ole has already namechecked Ethan Laird during a press conference and a number of players have been pictured training with the first team as the integration process is carefully planned over a sustained period of time. But only time will tell if the club will be able to reap the benefits of having such a strong foundation of young talent, or not.
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