Many Manchester United fans have found comfort in the fact that the next generation of players in the club's academy appear to be the real deal, despite the fact that the senior team has failed to inspire much hope among the supporting public in recent months. An otherwise poor season has been brightened by their performance in the FA Youth Cup.

Fans of the Red Devils are beginning to worry if the young players have a long-term future with the first squad after this recent run. With a lengthy history of developing young players, we could see Ralf Rangnick provide some opportunities to these rising stars if the club manages to finish in the top four.

You can't ignore the talents of Alvaro Fernandez, Alejandro Garnacho, Kobbie Mainoo, Isak Hansen-Aaroen, and Charlie McNeill when you consider the current generation of academy players around the first team, including Hannibal Mejbri. Teden Mengi, Ethan Laird, James Garner, and Dylan Levitt are among the players available to United who are currently on loan from other teams.

Are there any indications that the new manager will make the most of these possibilities? It is understood by MEN Sport that Erik ten Hag is the favoured candidate for Manchester United, and given his previous experience with Ajax, who are also known for their young development, he appears to be the ideal match.

As a former youth soccer player, Ten Hag has made it plain that he intends to continue doing so. "I believe we are doing a fantastic job at Ajax," he said in 2019 of his team. This is a first-rate kids academy with a world-class reputation. The sale of excellent players such as Justin Kluivert, Frenkie de Jong and Matthijs de Ligt during the previous two years has resulted in a substantial financial gain for the company.

"We still have homegrown players in our first squad, including players such as Blind, Mazraoui, Van de Beek, Siem de Jong, Sergino Dest, and Joel Veltman, among others. Our youth program produced all of those athletes over a period of several years of development. Though it's important to keep an eye on the long term, I believe it's also necessary to be realistic about the availability of new stars.

"While I agree that young players should have an opportunity to play in the first team, I also believe that they must earn that opportunity. Because the current players are better, or at least have the potential to be greater, they must demonstrate that they are superior. "Both Mazraoui and Dest took their chances last year, and fresh players will do the same in the future."

If these young players continue to amaze, they will eventually be given the opportunity to demonstrate their abilities in the first team, and they must seize that opportunity with both hands, as should be the case at all times. Hopefully, there will be plenty of opportunity to witness what these young players are capable of throughout the 2022/23 season.