Manchester United‘s academy has an esteemed reputation, going all the way back to the days of Gary Neville, David Beckham and Ryan Giggs who all saw their careers catapult into stardom as products of the Class of ’92.
There are also more modern-day examples here, which include Marcus Rashford who has now amassed a staggering 420 games for the Red Devils in the first-team fold after also once being a wide-eyed starlet.
Going back to the Class of ’92, however, it wouldn’t be a wild suggestion to state that Paul Scholes was the best of that illustrious lot who managed to make the grade at Old Trafford, with the midfielder key in the heart of the team for Sir Alex Ferguson over many a season.
Scholes’ time at Man United
Scholes’ 714 men’s appearances at United make Rashford’s impressive numbers look puny in comparison, as the attack-minded midfielder established himself as a crucial part of the Red Devils jigsaw over two decades.
Notching up 153 goals and 82 assists across his mammoth amount of games in Manchester, the diminutive 5 foot 6 midfield ace was always a joy to watch, especially when rifling home a stunning first-time strike.
He would go on to boast an extremely impressive trophy haul as a result of his lengthy stay in central midfield, which included a crazy 11 Premier League title triumphs, on top of two Champions League successes.
Therefore, it wouldn’t be a wild claim to state that Scholes is one of the best homegrown talents United have ever produced, with the Salford-born star remembered to this day as an absolute great.
Consequently, there would have been a lot of pressure above another academy product’s head when he was being touted to be the next iteration of Scholes in 2021, only for Erik ten Hag to let him leave for nothing earlier this year.
The player tipped to be the next Scholes
The player in question here is Shola Shoretire, with the 20-year-old on the books of United from a very early age after once being in the Newcastle United youth set-up.
He rose up the ranks at a very quick pace, owing to his regular heroics for both the U18s and U21s, with Shoretire going on to accumulate 32 goals and 30 assists in the latter age bracket across 71 clashes.
He would then go on to make his first team debut for the Red Devils in 2021 at only 17 years of age, with this then hopefully acting as the springboard Shoretire needed to make waves in the men’s game, and perhaps justify his comparison to the great Scholes.
Shoretire was first mentioned in the same breath as the United icon that same year, with Hebburn’s Director of Football Stephen Rutherford – which was another club the Red Devils youngster frequented before winning himself a chance at the Red Devils – waxing lyrical about the midfield ace’s ability being similar to the 11-time Premier League winner.
His mightily impressive numbers for the U21s did seem to suggest he could be as dangerous in attack as Scholes was when making the leap to the men’s side, but only five unmemorable first-team appearances would end up coming Shoretire’s way.
This would result in the youngster upping and leaving last summer after a new contract couldn’t be agreed, with the new PAOK midfielder actually lining up against the Red Devils recently in Europa League action.
Shoretire’s league numbers at PAOK (24/25) | |
|---|---|
Stat | Shoretire |
Games played | 6 |
Games started | 2 |
Minutes per game | 26 mins |
Goals scored | 0 |
Assists | 0 |
Stats by Sofascore | |
Only managing 11 minutes of action back at the Theatre of Dreams, it hasn’t been any better for the PAOK number 47 in the league either, with some poor numbers tallied up so far.
Unfortunately, not every hotly-tipped starlet goes on to make a name for himself at one of English football’s biggest clubs, as Shoretire found out the hard way.
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