Erik ten Hag had to be convinced to let academy youngsters leave on loan by John Murtough | OneFootball

The one saving grace in this injury-stricken season for Manchester United has been the emergence of youngsters.

The academy has come through in a big way and Erik ten Hag has been able to rely on those in the academy to successfully add to his squad.

Furthermore, it has led to more doors opening for young players to join the first team in training if not games.

The likes of Shea Lacey and Louis Jackson, who are not even regulars for the U21 side have trained with the first-team.

However, The Athletic report that United have had to temper Ten Hag’s tendency of putting young players in first-team team training to look at the big picture instead.

The report states that the manager wanted most of the U21 or U18 players to stay at the club so that he could add numbers to his training sessions.

However, that’s when John Murtough, United’s now-departed Director of Football, had to step in and tell the manager of the more beneficial route.

Murtough had to convince Ten Hag that letting the players leave on loan to get a proper taste of senior football would be much more beneficial for their growth than playing for the academy and training with the first team.

It can be seen since that in January, United let a lot of players explore loan moves, with the likes of Joe Hugill, Radek Vitek, and more going out on loan.

This has prompted Ten Hag to dip even further into the academy resources and call up 16 and 17-year-olds to the first team.

It can be argued that it has benefitted everyone since playing above their age group is benefitting the young players while others, who are older than them, are getting senior experience elsewhere.

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