Manchester United's 'Class of 2011' produced plenty of top talent.Paul Pogba went onto win the World Cup and move for a record-breaking transfer fee; Jesse Lingard amassed 36 caps for England and scored a winner in the 2016 FA Cup final and Ravel Morrison was considered by some as the greatest talent that the United academy had ever seen.It might not have been the 1992 gold rush of Paul Scholes, David Beckham and Gary Neville, but boy did it furnish the final years of the Sir Alex Ferguson era with plenty of exciting young talents.

Cofie's historic transfer

However, sadly, one name that doesn't roll off the tongue when you think back to United's 2011 FA Youth Cup winners is John Cofie.

And that's pretty surprising when you consider how The Sun recounts the fact that Cofie, then just 14 years old, was procured from Burnley's academy to the tune of £1 million back in 2007.

It might not seem like a staggering fee in today's climate, but when you consider that the transfer world record at the time 'only' stood at £56 million and this is a school boy we're talking about, the magnitude of the deal really sinks in.

After all, Cofie's move to the 'Theatre of Dreams' made him the youngest million-pound footballer that the sport had ever seen. No pressure, right?

"Better than Pogba"

And to make things even more astonishing, there's good reason to think that he might have had the jump on Pogba - who went onto move for £89 million as professional - during his youth days.

Cofie had thrived under the Head of Football Development at his school, Charlie Jackson, who recounted who opined that the former United starlet was only ever really ran close by Morrison.

Speaking to the Burnley Express in 2020, Jackson explained: "I think at 14 he was the best player. He was better than Pogba. The only player that ran him close was Ravel Morrison, who was an unbelievable talent, but the ups and downs in his world have changed him."

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The pressure of the price tag

Sadly, Cofie never lived up to his early promise and wasn't ever able to make a first-team appearance for the Red Devils with Jackson believing that his record-breaking price tag played a role in that outcome.

Cofie's former mentor added: "The price tag was the scary thing and that’s something that I wanted to protect him from. The £1.25m price tag at the time was ridiculous for such a young boy and the press got hold of that pretty quickly.

"I think that was probably the beginning of the downfall of how that was going to go in my opinion. That’s the sad thing about football when you’re putting price tags on academy players.

"It’s just madness. He went there, he was doing well but that price tag, later on, played its part. It’s a lot of pressure."

A journeyman's career

The fledgling forward was loaned out to Royal Antwerp, Sheffield United and Notts County, before waving goodbye to United on a permanent basis by leaving for Barnsley in the summer of 2013.

However, Cofie was ultimately destined to become a journeymen footballer as he cycled through spells with Molde, Crawley Town, Wrexham, AFC Telford United, Southport, Bradford AFC, Chorley, Stalybridge Celtic, Derry City and Hume City.

As such, in 2020, Cofie took the difficult decision to hang up his boots at the age of just 27.

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Sheffield United's David McAllister, John Cofie and Marcus Williams warm up

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Back enjoying the sport he loves

But the former United wonderkid has certainly put his post-football career to good use with The Sun reporting in late 2021 that he had reunited with his old mentor Jackson at Moorland School to help coach the next generation of footballers.

Jackson explained: "Because John has played at a good level and played with some of the best players in the world, there’s ready-made advice for the kids.

"It’s great to have him back, his enthusiasm hasn’t changed, he’s still got the same attitude to life, which is good. He’s not allowed football to define him, which is a big thing. Football can do that, good, bad or indifferent.

"It’s been good to bring him back because he’s been able to speak to the kids about his past, present and what could potentially be their future."

Latest transfer

But Cofie hasn't turned his back on playing the beautiful game entirely with the Buxton Advertiser reporting this summer that the FA Youth Cup winner had secured a move to New Mills A.F.C.

As such, Cofie will be competing in the North West Counties Football League, which spans the ninth and tenth levels of the English footballing pyramid.

We wish Cofie all the best in his future endeavours.

Although things might not have worked out as so many had imagined at Old Trafford, what matters is that Cofie kept plugging away with his passion and has been able to impart valuable advice to young footballers following in his footsteps.