There was dread among the Manchester United Under-23s staff at the start of last season that relegation was possible. The quality was lacking in the more senior bracket of the age group and they had one available forward - 18-year-old Anthony Elanga.
Elanga emerged for the second-half of a U23 friendly at Doncaster in early September 2020 when United were thrashed 5-0. At a time where Jadon Sancho was dominating the hourly news cycle, another number seven from Borussia Dortmund was in a United kit and listed on the teamsheet at the Keepmoat Stadium, only the club failed to prepare the paperwork on time and the trialist remained in the stands. Brighton eventually signed Reda Khadra, currently thriving on loan at Blackburn in the Championship.
Back then, Elanga seemed destined to stay in the U23s for the entire season. He had sustained a significant injury the previous campaign that wrote off four months of his career aged 17 and denied Elanga appearances at Old Trafford in the fourth and fifth rounds of the FA Youth Cup. By the time he had recovered, the Covid-19 pandemic started to sweep across the continent.
