Manchester United discovered Wayne Rooney was spot on with his verdict on Malcolm Ebiowei as they took on Crystal Palace on Tuesday.
The Red Devils were among the clubs reportedly interested in signing young forward Ebiowei from Derby County this summer, but the player snubbed their interest to sign for Premier League rivals Crystal Palace, having burst onto the scene for the Rams with 16 senior appearances and one goal in the Championship.
Like a number of the Derby stars that played under Rooney at Pride Park, Ebiowei left and followed teammate Luke Plange to Selhust Park, with the 18-year-old more confident of a path to first-team football under Palace boss Vieira.
United boss Erik ten Hag and supporters got a glimpse of Ebiowei's quality on Tuesday as the teenager started for Palace during their pre-season clash with United in Melbourne, Australia. The winger had a pleasing first-half display for Vieira’s side and caused problems for the opposition, who will hope to fight back into the Premier League’s top four this term.
Ebiowei was well-liked by Rooney, who used the youngster in 16 of the Rams’ final 17 league games of last season. The England legend handed Ebiowei his senior debut in a Championship clash against Hull City in February and he went on to record 11 starts and five substitute appearances in the second tier.
The promising winger, who has represented England and the Netherlands at youth level, will be hoping for a chance in the Eagles first-team when the Premier League season gets underway next month.
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He will have got a good taste for Premier League football in his pre-season run-out against United, during which the former Red Devils target started and played for 81 minutes in a 3-1 defeat.
Ten Hag’s side have been in impressive form so far this summer and after beating Liverpool and Melbourne Victory 4-0 and 4-1 respectively last week, continued their run of wins and goals in a convincing win over Palace.
Anthony Martial gave United a first-half lead after netting his third pre-season goal in as many games, before Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho also got themselves on the scoresheet after half-time.
Shortly after United made eight changes on the hour mark of the game, Palace got a goal back through Joel Ward, although it proved to be no more than a consolation against a United side who ended the game with 10 men after Will Fish was sent off.
For the Red Devils, summer signing Tyrell Malacia made his first start at left-back for United after substitute appearances in the wins over Liverpool and Melbourne.
Palace’s hopes of getting a result in the friendly suffered a major dent as goalkeeper Jack Butland was forced off through injury and replaced by Remi Matthews in the 13th minute, just four minutes before Martial put United 1-0 up in the game.
