Manchester United had ‘the next Scholes’ in Carrington, but Ten Hag let him go for £0

One of the most respected academies in world football is Manchester United’s Carrington.

You can go back in the history of soccer as far as you like. United have always produced top-level academy graduates.

There have been a number of stars who have actually flown the flag for the Red Devils’ academy in recent years. The main name that comes to mind is Marcus Rashford, who is currently plying his trade at Barcelona and is flying there.

The Wythenshawe-born sensation made 426 appearances for his boyhood club, scoring 138 goals and providing 79 assists.

Koby Mainu is a more recent example. It was Erik ten Hag who brought him in, but the Dutchman was very ruthless when it came to giving chances to his academy stars.

The Academy’s top talent is fired under Ten Hag’s management.

Naturally, it is very difficult to break into the first team of a club of United’s size. There were also some players that Ten Hag gave spots to, such as Mainu and Alejandro Garnacho. However, other players failed to feature and were sold by the former United manager, only to find success at other clubs.

Alvaro Carreras certainly fits that criteria. The 22-year-old completed a move to Real Madrid this summer after a brilliant spell with Benfica. He never actually played a first-team game at Old Trafford and Ten Hag were against giving him his debut.

He spent the 2023/24 season on loan before making a permanent move to Portugal last summer, joining Los Blancos in 2025. He started every La Liga game under manager Xabi Alonso, playing as left-back and even centre-back.

Anthony Elanga could also fall into the same category. Despite developing under Ralf Rangnick and scoring a big goal away to Atlético Madrid in the Champions League, he only played 26 games under Ten Hag before moving to Nottingham Forest.

This summer he moved to Newcastle United for a huge fee of £55 million, but he is yet to find goal for Thun.

Both players realistically could have been successful in different eras. The same could be said of United’s new Paul Scholes. At least that’s how he was described at the time.

Ten Hag lets Manchester United’s ‘next Scholes’ go

There is no doubt that some of the Academy’s sales under Ten Hag over the years have been failures. For example, the decision to move Carreras will be heartbreaking for United fans, given how well Carreras is doing at Madrid.

When the Red Devils decided not to renew Shola Shoretire’s contract in 2024, the Newcastle-born midfielder brought an end to his United career, having become the youngest player to appear in a European game for the club at 17 years and 23 days old.

It’s no exaggeration to say that when he was young, the former United number 47 was held in incredibly high esteem.

The junior club’s director of football, Stephen Rutherford, said: “I liken Shola to Paul Scholes,” which is really high praise.

Shoretire’s progress through United’s academy was impressive. He made 61 appearances in Premier League 2, scoring 29 goals and assisting a further 18. He played throughout midfield and also on the wing.

Unfortunately for Shoretire, he only made five first-team appearances at Old Trafford. A loan spell with Bolton Wanderers gave him first-team opportunities, but he left Old Trafford when his contract expired in 2024.

He joined Greek side PAOK on a free transfer and is currently on loan at Dutch side PEC Zwolle. Comparisons with Scholes now seem like a long time ago.

The 21-year-old only appeared on the bench four times during his time as manager at Ten Hag. Despite his impressive performances in the academy, the Dutchman did not give Shoretire the chance to show off his skills at senior level.

This may be something United fans will always look back on and wonder what could have been. Their youngest ever European player is clearly extremely talented and comparisons to Scholes are no mean feat.

Perhaps if he had been given more time by Ten Hag, he might have been able to prove his worth at United.