Manchester United put Rosenborg to the sword in their second pre-season friendly of the summer last week, winning 5-0, and some of the club's academy stars took their chance to impress.
Lacey's impressive performance
United took a relatively inexperienced 25-man squad to Trondheim, and while the inclusion of 15-year-old JJ Gabriel dominated the pre-match build-up, it was Shea Lacey who stole the show at the Lerkendal Stadion. Lacey made his Premier League debut last year and followed that up with a couple of impressive cameos. He did his hopes of a breakthrough campaign no harm by curling in an excellent opener to set United on their way.
The conundrum
While Lacey clearly has the talent, the youngster might need to bide his time with one potential major stumbling block. Senior United Correspondent Tyrone Marshall, speaking on the Manchester is Red podcast, noted that Lacey played as the No.10 against Rosenborg, which was a show of faith from Carrick. However, Marshall highlighted that the right wing position is not one where a youngster can easily break through.
"It's a little unfortunate that if United are playing Sesko up front or they sign another striker, and Mbeumo plays on the right all season and Amad plays on the right all season, it's tougher for Lacey to get into the team there. It's unfortunate that he's coming through in that position, but he's certainly going to be around it this season, he's going to get games. The early rounds of the Carabao Cup he's going to get games, he's going to be on the bench a lot," Marshall said.
Opportunities ahead
Marshall added: "There's something really exciting about him and it's going to be interesting in the first half of the season to see how he kicks on and how he takes on his game, but it's just pot luck sometimes. When a youngster comes through, if the position they play in is well-stocked then it is harder for him. That's the case with Lacey at the moment, but there will certainly be opportunities there."
