That would be the case with any club? Man Utd have sir Alex to thank for the success and the clubs pedigree (I’m not saying you had no history before him). You were what Liverpool were before the fergie era, that’s where the brand comes from. But for the past 10 years Man Utd haven’t really had a sniff at their former glory, therefore the clubs influence is shrinking and the new generation of fans you would of gained are choosing Man City instead etc. On the contrary, the big names you still bring in probably are bringing in new fans but as every year goes by, the clubs domination of the prem and such is going to be forgotten. The fact the club has so much money and still can’t win anything is proof there’s something going seriously wrong at the club. Pair that with the careers of your players not being able to fully flourish despite being some of the best players in the world, you’d have to be nuts to choose a move to United over other top clubs these days. Therefore, I really don’t see Man Utd having anything to offer other than the salary they can offer.

This is mbappe we’re talking about. No offence but Man Utd are only attracting players with the salary they can offer, nothing else. He’ll look at Pogba, Martial, Ronaldo… Going to Man Utd these days is risking your career

When you look at players like ESR and Saka who were in the academy from at least the age of 9, I’ve never known a top player to be recruited in to an academy at the age of 16 and make it to the prem for example. The difference I noticed when I played with academy players was their advanced understanding of the game (drilled in by their coaches). It was like they had cheat codes, they knew what to do. I’d definitely say coaching is a big part of it, talent needs to be nurtured correctly.

I’d say they’d go hand in hand. I never even got scouted until I had a great coach (who took it a bit too seriously) along with a few other teammates. Low and behold that coach was an academy boy too hence he had that knowledge to share.