{"id":259300,"date":"2025-10-29T19:35:16","date_gmt":"2025-10-29T19:35:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/259300\/"},"modified":"2025-10-29T19:35:16","modified_gmt":"2025-10-29T19:35:16","slug":"man-utd-coaches-caught-off-guard-by-rapid-rise-of-academy-talent-think-hes-a-diamond-in-the-rough","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/259300\/","title":{"rendered":"Man Utd coaches caught off guard by rapid rise of academy talent, think he&#8217;s a &#8216;diamond in the rough&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Manchester United have several academy talents tipped for greatness in their careers, but one starlet has left his coaches shocked this season.<\/p>\n<p>With <a href=\"https:\/\/www.unitedinfocus.com\/club\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Manchester United\u2019s<\/a> U21 side currently the best in the country, there is unsurprising hype around multiple talents at the club.<\/p>\n<p>Outside of the Shea Lacey and Jim Thwaites\u2019 of the academy, there are also some surprising names being tipped for greatness as they continue to impress. <\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"40\" height=\"40\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/mail.png\" alt=\"mail icon\"\/>Join our newsletter for news &amp; smart analysis. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.unitedinfocus.com\/news\/ruben-amorim-has-taken-a-real-liking-to-man-utd-youngster-who-has-one-hell-of-a-future\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Ruben Amorim has taken a liking to James Overy<\/a>, while there is a 17-year-old who has been shocking his coaches this season with his rise through the ranks.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" loading=\"lazy\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/GettyImages-2243188431-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Yuel Helafu in warm up for Manchester United U21.\" class=\"wp-image-305938\" \/>Photo by Poppy Townson \u2013 MUFC\/Manchester United via Getty ImagesYuel Helafu is shocking Manchester United staff with his development<\/p>\n<p>Ruben Amorim places heavy emphasis on his wing-backs, with the position seen as being vital for his team and the way the system functions.<\/p>\n<p>As a result, plenty of academy talents trialled in the roles during training. This included <a href=\"https:\/\/www.unitedinfocus.com\/news\/exciting-man-utd-youngster-makes-first-team-training-debut-hes-being-fast-tracked\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Yuel Helafu getting a first-team training call<\/a> in September.<\/p>\n<p>Now, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/football\/article-15235221\/Man-United-Jadon-Sancho-contract-new-stadium-hidden-gem-academy.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">The Daily Mail<\/a> has reported that the 17-year-old has left United staff shocked by his rapid rise over the past few months, catching coaches off guard with his improvement.<\/p>\n<p>Helafu has stepped up into the U21 side this season with ease despite his age, and United think that they have found themselves a \u2018full back diamond in the rough\u2019.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.unitedinfocus.com\/academy\/man-utd-might-just-have-the-next-noussair-mazraoui-in-youth-ranks-hes-being-fast-tracked\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Helafu has been so impressive for the U21s<\/a>, looking like his appearances there will be a regular occurrence opposed to a one off.<\/p>\n<p>Yuel Helafu could be Manchester United\u2019s ready made Noussair Mazraoui replacement<\/p>\n<p>Despite growing excitement, Helafu is likely a couple of years away from even being considered for a first-team debut, with his positional work needing serious improvements.<\/p>\n<p>However, comparisons to Noussair Mazraoui are apt, with the teenager being equally good in offense and defence, just like the Moroccan.<\/p>\n<p>It is very early days, but <a href=\"https:\/\/www.unitedinfocus.com\/academy\/samuel-lusale-compares-17-year-old-man-utd-wonderkid-with-star-sold-by-ineos-in-2024\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Helafu has also drawn Aaron Wan-Bissaka comparisons<\/a>, with his tackling impressive which could see him become an alternative to Amad under Amorim, given the pair could offer different solutions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Manchester United have several academy talents tipped for greatness in their careers, but one starlet has left his&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":259301,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[403,99,37112,140044],"class_list":{"0":"post-259300","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-soccer","8":"tag-soccer","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-under-21s","11":"tag-yuel-helafu"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259300","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=259300"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259300\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/259301"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=259300"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=259300"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=259300"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}