The Former United Youth/Reserves Thread

A quick google search says he went AWOL for a period last month. What the heck was he playing at?
 
End of season round-up:

Best performers this season: Josh King and Michael Keane (PL), Tom Lawrence (Championship)

Premier League: Josh King spectacular form after Christmas for Bournemouth, Michael Keane and Tom Heaton super seasons for Burnley. Danny Drinkwater nowhere near his form of last season for Leicester. Danny Simpson decent. The rarely seen Zeki Fryers got a few mins for Palace (out of contract in the summer). Bardsley still starting some games for Stoke though out of contract in the summer. James Weir went from being an unused sub for Hull to the same role at Preston on loan. Will Keane got some starts at Hull before yet another serious injury. Ashley Fletcher 2 starts and 12 sub in PL for West Ham. Robbie Brady joined Burnley from Norwich in the winter transfer window. Robert Ron Zieler's move to Leicester not been great to date though did get starts when Schmeichel injured. Frazier Campbell 11 sub appearances for Palace - out of contract in the summer.

Championship: Oli Norwood 16 starts for promoted Brighton. Tom Lawrence had an astonishing hot spell for Ipswich (on loan from Leicester), Ben Pearson and Blackett regulars for Preston and Reading respectively. Tunnicliffe far fewer mins than in previous seasons since leaving United - out of contract in the summer, Richie De Laet played 3 games for Villa then out for rest of season with a serious injury. James Chester regular for Villa. Sean Goss got his career started at QPR but restricted to the occasional start. Ravel Morrison at QPR on loan from Lazio did manage to start one match but otherwise a near total write-off. David Jones plenty of playing time for Sheff Wed. Tons of ex-United players at relegated Wigan. Nick Powell missed a big chunk of the season for unknown reasons but scored 5 goals as a sub when he reappeared. Reece James' injury problems continued. Obertan 7 starts after joining from Anzhi. Saidy Janko eventually got 7 starts on loan (from Celtic) at Barnsley. Matty James recovering from serious injury also got 17 starts on loan there (from Leicester). Vermijl 13 starts at Preston (on loan from Sheff Wed). Lindegaard 8 starts for Preston. Corry Evans was a regular at relegated Blackburn until the new year, nothing since then. Ben Amos a similar pattern at Cardiff (on loan from Bolton) though one start fairly recently.

Apologies for all those players I've forgotten (or failed to notice among the various squads on Transfermarkt).
 
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kundalini said:
End of season round-up:
Apologies for all those players I've forgotten (or failed to notice among the various squads on Transfermarkt).
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You missed out on:
Josh Brownhill at Bristol City (27 apps)
Kieran Lee at Sheffield Wednesday (26 apps, 5 goals, on to the play-off)
Andy Kellett (only played 5 times at Wigan due to injuries and not picked by the manager)
Ben Brereton - released by United at 14, went to Stoke and was released again, Nottingham Forest picked him up. Now only still 18, played 18 times in the Championship and was a target for Liverpool.

Some of the former youth players at League One:
Joe Rothwell (Oxford United) 22 yo - 33 league apps, 45 apps in total, had a quite hot and cold season
Tom Thorpe (Bolton) 24 yo - 21 league apps, mostly on midfield. Bolton got promoted but he wasn't convincing apparently and was eventually released by his parent club Rotherham United.
Oliver Rathbone (Rochdale) 20 yo - was released by us last summer, managed to break into the first team at Rochdale who just missed out on League One play-off. He made 27 league apps in total.
Scott Wootton 25 yo - (MK Dons) - only played 1 league game before upturing his anterior cruciate ligament and out for 9 months.
Kenji Gorre 22 yo - was loaned out by Swansea to Northampton Town until January, made 13 league apps and scored 1.
Liam Grimshaw 22 yo - on loan at Chesterfield from PNE since January and played 13 times on the league for them. Also made 5 appearances in the Championship for PNE.

Of course there're many more but I'm just too lazy to list everyone.

Some other younger players:
Tyler Reid 19 yo - regular for Swansea U23s - on the fringe of their first team.
Joe Rankin-Costello 17 yo - one of the first name in the team sheet for Blackburn U23s, expect him to get some first team minutes for them next season
Melle Meulensteen 17 yo - captained PNE U18s and was one of the three who were offered pro deal at the end of the season and will train with their first team comes the summer (since they don't have an U23s team).
Danny Butterworth 17 yo - released by us last summer, joined Blackburn U18s and managed to break into their U23s squad and became their first choice striker.
Rowan Roache 17 yo - was released at 14, now at Blackpool, made his first team debut on the cup.
Dwight McNeil 16 yo - another one released at 14, went to Burnley and currently a regular for their U23s.
 
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Ben Pearson has won Prestons young player of the year award I believe. Nice to see him doing well.
 
Checked the PNE forum to see how Harrop is doing in pre-season for them and he missed the first game with a knock. I seen though that their fans were impressed with 18 year old Melle Meulensteen. Rene's son and our former academy player. Would be cool if he could breakthrough there alongside our other graduates.
 
Ben Brereton is one we might end up buying back for millions. Looking very good for Forest and England U19.
 
Former academy forward Sam Smith (19) travelled with Reading first team for their pre-season. Paul McShane and Tyler Blackett 2 other former academy players in their squad.

 
£6.5m seems a lot for Fletcher. How much was the tribunal fee we got for him last year?
 
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Sky reporting Chelsea are considering Danny Drinkwater as a replacement to Matic
 
flappyjay said:
http://www.skysports.com/football/n...7m-bid-for-tom-lawrence-rejected-by-leicester

Leicester reject 7m offer for Tom Lawrence.
Haven't seen him play much since he left, how can they refuse that much for him
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Too many things up in the air right now. Mahrez and Gray might both be leaving, or both be staying, or one going. Lawrence was, at least for a lengthy spell last season, one of the star attackers in the Championship. Leicester forum thinks he has played reasonably well during pre-season. £7m isn't enough to force the issue. It's the sort of bid that rather assumes he has no place in the Leicester team, which may end up being correct, but is not clear cut right now.
 
kundalini said:
Too many things up in the air right now. Mahrez and Gray might both be leaving, or both be staying, or one going. Lawrence was, at least for a lengthy spell last season, one of the star attackers in the Championship. Leicester forum thinks he has played reasonably well during pre-season. £7m isn't enough to force the issue. It's the sort of bid that rather assumes he has no place in the Leicester team, which may end up being correct, but is not clear cut right now.
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Ok that makes more sense. I hope the situation resolves itself soon so that he can make decision. It's always nice to see an academy graduate forge a career for themselves
 
19 yo forward Sam Smith played full 90 min for Reading last night in the League Cup (his first team debut for Reading).
 
Sid234 said:
Injuries ruined what could have been an great career, imo he'd have been an England regular as well.
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At 26, there's still time for England caps during a time when Livermore is pretty much an England regular.

Needs to stay fit though, obviously.
 
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