Ole Gunnar Solskjaer decided to play things reasonably safe during Manchester United’s Europa League clash against LASK on Wednesday night.The Red Devils were 5-0 up from the first leg, which took place back in March, but Solskjaer still included a host of internationals in his starting line-up at Old Trafford.Juan Mata, Harry Maguire, Fred, Jesse Lingard and Sergio Romero were all among the starters.However, Solskjaer did name a few youngsters on the bench.Tahith Chong, James Garner and Teden Mengi were named alongside the likes of Paul Pogba and Bruno Fernandes on the subs’ bench.United fans were a little disappointed by this. They were looking forward to seeing exciting young defender Mengi make his senior debut.
The 18-year-old, who has impressed for United’s Under-23 and Under-18 teams during the current campaign, is a player that United fans who follow the club’s youngsters have been eager to see at senior level for a little while now.He is also highly rated by coaches at Old Trafford. Neil Wood, United’s Under-23s boss, recently told the Manchester Evening News: “Teden has been fantastic. He came up to us quite early on in the season and, a bit like Brandon [Williams] in a sense, he came from the 18s and took his chance. He played really well and he kept his place in the team."And when he dropped back down at the end of the season to lead the Youth Cup team, he put in some excellent performances there. We'll be looking to work with him next season and he's one [player] we want to 'do a Brandon' with, push him on and the goal is to try and get him pushed up into that first team if we can."Footage of Mengi in action has been shared by Man Utd fans in recent months - and the videos show what a huge talent the teenager is.Here he is in action against Norwich earlier this year...Not only is he both rapid and powerful, but he also appears to read the game very well. He looks assured in possession, while his positioning looks very good, too.This two-minute compilation video shows that he’s not afraid to bring the ball out defence. He can also pick a pass.
Meanwhile, this video shows Mengi producing a brilliant recovery run, using his searing pace to get back before dispossessing the forward with an inch-perfect sliding tackle.
Mengi is also capable of scoring the odd goal...
And he has a great relationship with Mason Greenwood.
The pair of them recently recorded this TikTok video together.
It’s clear that the lad has a bright future ahead of him, and United fans will be hoping to see a lot more of him throughout the 2020-21 campaign.