Man Utd's hometown hero is Carrington made & ready to end their ...
Manchester United have spent big in their first summer being run by INEOS, but familiar problems continue to plague Erik ten Hag’s stuttering side.
Finishing eighth last season and haemorrhaging chances on goal in literally every game they played, things couldn’t have looked uglier on the pitch if United tried.
Their summer captures of Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui have gone a long way in immediately rectifying that issue, with the Red Devils now more settled defensively, but with one problem fixed, another one appears to have presented itself.
With Rasmus Hojlund missing pre-season and the beginning of the season due to an injury, all scoring hopes have been placed on the shoulders of fellow young striker Joshua Zirkzee, immediately upon his arrival to the club like Hojlund a season before him.
Ten Hag’s side no longer bleed chances quite so profusely, but they do spurn them alarmingly regularly, with their wingers young and Marcus Rashford blowing more hot and cold than a cup of tea in the wind.
It thus seems a little counterintuitive, then, to suggest that another young forward can be the answer to United’s problems, but when you’re as talented and as fearless as Ethan Wheatley, it’s just meant to be.
La Carrington is currently a production line bursting at the seams with top-level prospects and Wheatley is one of the latest to come off it. Despite being just 18, he finds himself in the bizarre no man’s land of not being trusted enough for regular first-team minutes, but clearly being too good for youth level.
Not just under-18 level either; this kid is already way too good for the under-21s and is desperate for a bigger stage to shine on.
He became the 250th academy graduate to debut for the Red Devils in a 4-2 win over Sheffield United towards the end of the 2023-24 season, coming off the bench after a number of months of training around the first-team and getting acclimatised, again in a similar fashion to Mainoo.
That should’ve been the first appearance towards a consistent ascent to senior football for the tall and lanky forward who looked a natural fit up top, but instead he’s found himself falling back into under-21 football as Ten Hag persists with Zirkzee, seemingly until the wheels fall off the Dutchman.
And that’s where he’s making a fatal error – because Wheatley is ready. The eye test reveals all.
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A unique profile, Wheatley’s size for his age suggests his strengths would lie in his physical attributes, but it’s his technical excellence and eye for a goal which set him apart.
The teenager already has an IQ well beyond his years and has developed an impressive goal catalogue at youth level, displaying close control, awareness and composure. Fourteen goals and four assists in just 30 games last season is testament to his confidence around the goal.
His best work comes in and around the box, unfazed by tight spaces and well-organised defences – an area which United’s senior team is struggling with as of late.
Hojlund has proven to be a handful in transition, while Zirkzee’s best work comes when dropping deeper, linking play and running at defenders. Wheatley, then, while not the finished article, profiles well into a team that is crying out for some patience and quality in tight areas against stubborn defences.
The phrase ‘if you’re good enough, you’re old enough’ has shaped United ever since it first left the lips of Sir Matt Busby and it must continue to do so. With Gabriele Biancheri and Chido Obi-Martin both ready to climb the ladder themselves, there is no time for Wheatley to be middling in the under-21s.
His goal against Manchester City in a 3-1 defeat after being dropped back into the youth side on the same day that a toothless United failed to score at Selhurst Park was merely the latest reminder that he’s ready to be given a run in the side.
Between the League Cup, the Europa League and the FA Cup in the new year, Ten Hag must make use of his incredibly talented young forward, who could resharpen his attack and reshape the vision of a young and hungry United under INEOS.
By Mitch Wilks
