Teden Mengi will celebrate his 21st birthday this weekend and he couldn't have hoped for a better gift than his first competitive start for Manchester United since leaving the pitch on a stretcher during a friendly in Spain five months ago.
With the World Cup in Qatar still ongoing, Erik ten Hag brought a youthful squad to the winter training camp in Andalucia in December and Mengi was among those hoping to take his chance, but disaster struck again for the academy product.
Mengi went down with an injury against Real Betis, which forced him to be taken off the pitch on a stretcher. He was faced with another stint on the treatment table and that also meant he was unable to leave on loan in January.
