Man Utd: Shea Lacey and Tyler Fletcher set for first-team breakthrough

Manchester United's pre-season friendly against Atletico Madrid in Stockholm on Saturday will be the final time manager Michael Carrick's travelling party will feature academy players.

Bruno Fernandes, Diogo Dalot and Matheus Cunha are anticipated to return to pre-season training next week, while Belgium pair Senne Lammens and Youri Tielemans will step up the work they began at Carrington on Thursday, so next weekend's encounter with Paris St-Germain is likely to have a more familiar feel.

With recruitment still to be completed and deals to be done, in and out, it cannot be certain yet which youngsters have impressed enough over the past couple of weeks to make the step up.

Harry Amass, Jaydan Kamason, Dan Armer, Jack Fletcher, Jim Thwaites, Ethan Williams and JJ Gabriel kept their places for the Stockholm trip, while others were on under-21s duty against Altrincham.

Already though, it is clear Shea Lacey and Tyler Fletcher are at the head of the queue.

The statuses of Lacey and Fletcher within the United fold were clear at Brighton on the final day of last season.

With nothing of huge significance to play for, they were the young players Carrick put in his squad and then introduced in the second half of what turned out to be an impressive 3-0 win.

Nothing that has happened since suggests their upward trajectory has stalled.

Lacey sparkled as a second-half substitute in the opening pre-season game against Wrexham in Helsinki, then scored a trademark goal six days later in Norway as United beat Rosenborg 5-0.

The 19-year-old played quite a lot of that game just behind Joshua Zirkzee in a central number 10 role, with Bryan Mbeumo outside him on the right side Lacey loves so much.

It was from that position Lacey scored, racing on to Zirkzee's through ball, controlling with his left foot, slowing, then chopping inside with a touch from his right before curling smoothly into the far corner.

The ease of the movement underlines Lacey's talent. Nothing looks hard. Last May, U21s coach Adam Lawrence said the Liverpudlian had "magic in his feet" after a 4-3 Premier League 2 semi-final victory at Manchester City.

Lawrence also made a point of praising Lacey's defending that night, as if it was an area of the youngster's game his coaches are demanding he pays particular attention to.

By that point, Lawrence had already confirmed Lacey was training virtually full-time with the senior squad. Expect him to stay there.

A 16-minute appearance at Brighton was the start of a staggering couple of weeks for Fletcher.

Scotland boss Steve Clarke must have noted something as he asked Fletcher, son of former international midfielder Darren and twin brother of Jack, who has elected to play his youth football for England at present, if he would come to train for a few days in his pre-World Cup camp.

That led to Fletcher being given an international debut against Bolivia. Then, after Billy Gilmour was ruled out of the tournament with an injury sustained against the South Americans, 19-year-old Fletcher was parachuted into Clarke's 26-man World Cup squad.

Although he did not make an appearance, the experience is regarded as invaluable, both in terms of giving Fletcher a taste of something to aim for during the next chapter in his career, and also showing him the standards required to reach the top.

Not that standards are an issue. He has learned plenty from his dad. Fletcher is mature, selfless and aware. They are attributes beyond pure ability that will serve him well.

If Lacey can create little moments of magic, the root of Fletcher's ability is to do the simple things effectively. He reads the game well and his passes are clean. In addition, he is a leader.

Jacob Devaney was Manchester United's Premier League 2 skipper last season until he went on loan to Scottish Premiership club St Mirren. He is also highly regarded at Old Trafford and has done well in pre-season.

But in the 'second-half team' made up of academy players, so far this pre-season, Fletcher has been given the armband.

He was entitled to a three-week post-World Cup break. He returned to training after two.

Like Lacey, expect to see quite a bit of him around the senior set-up in the weeks that lie ahead.

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