by Jose Mourinho once tipped five of Manchester United’s academy prospects for greatness because he believed they were destined to shine in football.
The Portuguese coach, who has just signed a contract with Turkish club Fenerbahce, has never been shy about giving his opinion on players and rivals alike.
Whether you love him or hate him, he has stated his opinion many times and it has been proven right in the long run. However, nobody is perfect and there have been times when the ‘Special One’ has been wrong – during his time at Old Trafford and beyond.
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There were plenty of moments for United fans and Mourinho was the boss – during his press conferences, on match days, and in some controversial scenes in training sessions.
Back in the summer of 2017, while still in charge of Old Trafford, Mourinho defended his record of giving academy players a platform to succeed and took five current players to excel at the club.
At the time, Mourinho said: “Probably in a few years Man United will have half a dozen of these kids too. [in the team]. So when the kids are good and have potential, there’s no problem.”
United acquired the manager in December 2018 and he has since had coaching spells at Tottenham, AS Roma and now Fenerbahce. But what happened to those five players he was impressed with while at the Red Devils? The IS Manchester Evening News he looked into their careers.
Scott McTominay
By the time Mourinho named McTominay as one of his players to watch out for, the Scot had already made his Premier League debut for United against Arsenal in May 2017.
Fast forward to 2024 and McTominay is still performing well for the club, scoring 10 goals and assisting three times in the 2023/24 season. He has appeared 289 times for United, scoring 29 times over eight seasons with the club.
McTominay also performed extremely well for his home nation of Scotland, scoring seven times during the European Championship Qualifiers in the latest round of games and helping them qualify for Euro 2024.
Demetri Mitchell
Mitchell made his Premier League debut soon after McTominay in the season finale against Crystal Palace – but the left-back’s career at Old Trafford ultimately failed to take off.
Mitchell headed further north for the 2018/19 season with Hearts and spent his time on loan with the Edinburgh club. After 12 months back in United’s academy, the young defender left permanently and made his breakthrough in the professional game.
Promotion hopefuls Blackpool signed Mitchell Mitchell, who played 25 games under former Liverpool youth team manager Neil Critchley.
The now 27-year-old crossed the Scottish capital and joined Hibernian on a £300K permanent move – just three years after playing for their city rivals Hearts.
He lasted just a year with the Scottish Premiership outfit and now has a cruciate ligament injury at League One outfit Exeter City.
Andreas Pereira
Pereira is a curious case for United fans as the young midfielder seemed to have potential – but never really came under any manager.
The now 28-year-old signed for United from Dutch side PSV Eindhoven in 2014 and was brought into the first team squad fairly quickly. However, he was sent out on numerous loans including La Liga clubs Granada and Valencia, as well as Italian outfit Lazio and Brazilian club Flamengo.
In the summer of 2022, United finally parted ways with Pereira and joined fellow Premier League club Fulham in a deal worth £8 million.
Since then, the Brazil international has impressed, appearing 82 times for the west London club, scoring eight times and assisting a total of 15 goals.
Axel Tuanzebe
Tuanzebe was handed his Premier League debut by Mourinho in the same game as McTominay but struggled to hold down a place in the first team after that game.
The centre-back was loaned out to Aston Villa three times in total and also spent time at Napoli and Stoke City.
He was released by United in the summer of 2023 and found his home at Ipswich Town, scoring and assisting once during their successful 2023/24 campaign.
The club completed promotion to the Premier League after beating Huddersfield 2-0 in the final game of the Championship campaign – meaning Tuanzebe will face his old club again in the new season.
Tyrrell Warren
Like fellow defender Mitchell, Warren was surplus to requirements at United when he graduated from the club’s academy system.
This is a fate many players have suffered before Warren as many academy players at multiple clubs have to do their best to compete for the first team.
Warren has had a troubled time since leaving United, bouncing between various teams including Salford’s under-21s, Boston United, Halifax Town and Barrow.
The right-back’s latest move was from League Two outfit Barrow to fellow league side Grimsby Town in a £170K permanent move. Hopefully, the now 25-year-old can get some solid minutes under his belt and begin his football career with a long-term club.
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