Erik ten Hag mainly played Manchester United's senior professionals during pre-season, but the club's youngsters were still given opportunities on tour in Thailand and Australia. They were desperate to impress and some caught Ten Hag's eye.
United began their pre-season on June 27 and that has meant Ten Hag will have worked with the squad for six weeks when welcoming Brighton to Old Trafford on the opening day of the season. It is understood United's players have responded well to Ten Hag during that period and they are greatly benefiting from his structured training sessions, which have been engaging.
Ten Hag is hands-on during training and his tactical input is guaranteed to improve the club's players, while it also promises to get the best out of the young talent around the squad, as he wasn't afraid to place trust in such players during his time at Ajax.
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United have produced the Busby Babes, the Class of '92 and not many clubs can compete with the Reds' outstanding academy record. United's youth set-up remains world-class, despite the first-team standards at Old Trafford slipping over the last decade.
Ten Hag understands the importance of developing the club's youngsters and that explains why almost a third of United's 31-man travelling squad for their tour of Thailand and Australia was made of players that were aged 21 or younger.
The Qatar World Cup is being held in the winter this year and United are hoping to seriously compete in three competitions - Premier League, Carabao Cup, and FA Cup - which means Ten Hag will inevitably need to use the fringe players in the squad.
It's set to be a gruelling campaign and the club's youngsters will be hoping they can play a part in squad rotation. While some are set to leave on loan before the transfer window shuts, others are on the verge of permanently breaking into the squad.
When analysing those candidates, Ethan Laird was always going to be loaned instead of staying at United. The right-back has Diogo Dalot and Aaron Wan-Bissaka ahead of him, which explains why he is expected to join Watford on a season-long loan.
Elsewhere, Hannibal, Zidane Iqbal and Charlie Savage have all featured in midfield during pre-season, but it was actually Iqbal and Savage, who both made their first team debuts in December, that seemed to impress Ten Hag most with their performances.
In truth, Iqbal was always bound to attract attention in the academy. Iqbal shares his name with the great Zinedine Zidane and that naturally brings interest. Iqbal also plays in the same position as Zizou brilliantly once did. The midfielder was the only player under the age of 21 to play in all four of United's matches during their tour of Thailand and Australia and that was a compliment from Ten Hag.
Iqbal, who played for Sale United before joining United's academy aged nine, seems to be going from a boy to a man. He now looks physically equipped for the senior game and he's not short of ability. Iqbal exudes quality in possession and he glides past opponents.
Savage made his first-team debut alongside Iqbal against BSC Young Boys in the Champions League and he played with his fellow academy graduate on tour. Savage is the son of Robbie Savage but he couldn't be more different on the pitch than his father.
Savage's work rate on cold Friday nights at Leigh Sports Village is guaranteed to be relentless and he doesn't get the praise he deserves. Savage is an excellent passer of the ball and he's demonstrated his vision in pre-season matches this summer.
Both players have been a breath of fresh air during pre-season and they are in contention to be permanently promoted to first-team training for the new campaign, where they might find James Garner, who was on loan at Nottingham Forest last season.
Garner was excellent last term and he was instrumental in Forest securing promotion to the Premier League. Garner made 49 appearances across all competitions and he played in a number of positions in midfield, which proved his tactical intelligence.
After an impressive season in the Championship, Garner seemed the most likely to make his mark in pre-season, but he sustained a knock and that limited him to just 23 minutes on tour. Ten Hag has admitted he needs to see more of Garner before making a decision on his future and there's a feeling that he'll leave on loan again, with Premier League clubs interested in a temporary deal.
Hannibal is another youngster at the club that is on the cusp of the first-team. Hannibal regularly trained with the first-team last season and his small cameo against Liverpool at Anfield in April was praised by Gary Neville and Bryan Robson.
It was an indictment of the problems within the dressing room that Hannibal showed more desire in 10 minutes than others did across the full match. Although Hannibal has vast potential and his passion is endearing, the first loan of his career could beckon.
Regarding the young attacking talent that United have at the club, Amad, Pellistri and Alejandro Garnacho all travelled on United's pre-season tour of Thailand and Australia, but the latter would have been disappointed not to make a single appearance.
Garnacho, 18, remains a raw prospect at such a crucial stage of his development, but his precociousness means he's currently a level ahead of players his age and that was clear in the FA Youth Cup last season, which was a competition he thrived in.
While the Spaniard was talismanic for United's U18s and he made his first-team debut against Chelsea in April, it would be advisable to exercise patience with his development. Garnacho would certainly benefit from a season with United's U23s.
That would allow Garnacho to occasionally play for the first-team in cup competitions and it seems the logical next step for the player, whereas the next steps for Amad and Pellistri - who both play on the right-wing - are hardly clear this summer.
There were high expectations for Amad when he signed from Atalanta for an initial fee of €21m in January 2021. Amad had played just 122 first-team minutes for Atalanta before moving to Old Trafford and eyebrows were raised when the deal was announced.
The forward became United's second-most expensive teenager and his first few months at the club confirmed why United's scouting department had thought so highly of him. Amad scored a hat-trick on his U23s debut against Liverpool and two months later he scored against AC Milan in the Europa League, with an expertly taken header to open the scoring for United.
However, Amad has struggled since then and he spent six months on loan at Rangers last season. Amad's time in Scotland was underwhelming and he's expected to leave the club on loan once again, just like Pellistri, who played for Deportivo Alaves last term.
Pellistri signed for United in October 2020 for £9m but he's yet to make a first-team appearance at the club. Pellistri played just 750 minutes for Deportivo last season and United even considered ending his loan prematurely. Pellistri is understood to have loan offers from England, Italy and Portugal for the season.
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