Obi joined United from Arsenal's academy
Obi joined United from Arsenal's academy
The wall of the Manchester United academy gym at Carrington may be in need of a revamp. It is adorned by Scott McTominay, Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho.
Tom Heaton is also on it. At the time of the interior decoration, all four were United first team squad members. Three still are, technically, but Heaton is likely to be the only one remaining come the end of summer.
In the main building, there are young and old images of past graduates. Dean Henderson is one of the most recent, a success story for the United academy but not at United.
United's outgoing academy director Nick Cox celebrated Henderson's man-of-the-match performance in the FA Cup final on X. Henderson was, briefly, United's first homegrown No.1 since Gary Walsh. The chances of an academy talent making the grade at United are more remote than for those in any other position.
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Cox always accepted goalkeepers were a conundrum. Enough were needed to play, train and cover the first team, so a minimum of six were needed in the junior teams. United relish emergency loan calls from clubs for goalkeepers as Henderson's first career appearance was as an emergency loanee at non-league Stockport County in 2016.
The image of Henderson can still motivate the incumbent academy custodians. Henderson has won the FA Cup, will be playing in Europe next season and there are whispers he could supplant Jordan Pickford as the England No.1.
"We take great pride in seeing our boys have great careers away from here," Cox said. "If we hinged everything on who crosses the white line (for United), we'd all be miserable."
Cox's work at United is done and he will move to Everton as their technical director later this year. “Nick has made a huge contribution to Manchester United over the past nine years," United's director of football Jason Wilcox said. "I was already well aware of his qualities before I arrived at the club and have really enjoyed working together.
“Identifying and developing the best youth talent remains one of this club’s top priorities, and we are grateful for the work Nick has done to provide such a strong foundation for us to continue to build on."
2019, the year that Henderson became a Premier League player with Sheffield United, coincided with Cox's appointment as head of the United academy. Nicky Butt assumed the role of head of first team development and both made invaluable contributions to reviving one of the most important sectors at United.
Henderson was briefly United's No.1
In the years after Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement, the academy was neglected. Following Brian McClair's departure in 2015, there was no full-time academy head for a year. Instead, it was jointly run by the club secretary John Alexander and John Murtough, long before he assumed the prominent post of football director in 2021.
United were thrashed 5-1 by Chelsea, in the midst of monopolising the FA Youth Cup, in January 2016. Louis van Gaal watched Marcus Rashford from the stands at Altrincham a month before Rashford's stratospheric start to his professional career.
That under 18 side also endured a 12-match losing run. Later that year, United's under 14s were annihilated 9-0 by Manchester City. There was uproar in Northern Ireland when United did not participate in the Milk Cup in 2015.
Charlie Scott is sent off in United's defeat at City in January 2016
The academy's reputation was buttressed at senior level by the breakthroughs of Rashford and Jesse Lingard, the 2016 FA Cup final matchwinner. Van Gaal handed debuts to 12 academy players, the majority of them undeserved or utterly unforeseen. Paddy McNair and Cameron Borthwick-Jackson had brief purple patches that gave the illusion the academy was in ship-shape.
It wasn't until Butt returned to United to head the academy in February 2016. He oversaw an aggressive recruitment drive in the close season with Tahith Chong, Lee O'Connor, Nishan Burkart, Joshua Bohui and Millen Baars. None became United mainstays but a marker was laid down.
The most significant addition in 2016 was Kieran McKenna from Tottenham Hotspur's academy to coach the under 18s. McKenna inherited a gifted group - Angel Gomes, Mason Greenwood and James Garner - that topped the northern Under 18 Premier League table in 2018.
United's Uefa Youth League side in 2018
After his promotion to the first team coaching staff by Jose Mourinho in 2018, some players found McKenna to be akin to a school teacher. His success at Ipswich Town is evidence that McKenna had the mettle to manage adults but his avuncular streak was apparent when he supported a nervous Gomes, aged 16, during a live televised interview with MUTV at the player of the year awards.
Mourinho despaired at some of the players in the relegated under 21 side in 2018. "Roshaun Williams, f*****g hell," he scoffed to a confidant. For Mourinho's final pre-season tour, Greenwood, Garner and Gomes were all included in the squad to usher in the more promising contingent.
Cox ramped up United's overseas recruitment. Hannibal Mejbri cost £9m from Monaco in 2019, a year before United raided Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid for Marc Jurado, Alvaro Fernandez and Alejandro Garnacho.
Jurado and Fernandez arrived in 2020
The European intake was never driven by Brexit, according to Cox. Jurado, Fernandez and Garnacho filled gaps at academy level to support the first team and all just happened to all be based in Spain, was his version of events.
Fernandez is another United academy success story but one that got away from the first team. Garnacho's United career seems certain to end prematurely after five years yet he will be fondly remembered for his FA Youth Cup and FA Cup final winning goals.
Cox coaxed Garnacho from Atletico Madrid to United via Zoom calls and the aid of an interpreter from his spare bedroom during lockdown in 2020. He wryly recalled his sons, aged 14 and 10 at the time, arguing outside over their X Box.
Garnacho on Youth Cup duty at Salford in 2021
Mark Dempsey, the academy coach brought back to United by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in 2018, likened Garnacho to Peter Barnes, an old teammate during his fleeting playing career at United. Garnacho ended up ousting Rashford and has been bracketed with more celebrated United wingers.
"Only at 50 or 100 games can you start to think they might have cracked it," Cox once said. It could be 144 and out from Garnacho.
Domestically, United bought Joe Hugill amid competition from Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur in 2020. Charlie McNeill also made headlines as he defected from City for £750,000.
United's academy fell behind City's for several years, which made the McNeill deal such a coup. McNeill started out at the United academy before he was lured to City in 2014. City offered to put McNeill's siblings in St Bede's College.
More significantly in 2014, City opened the City Football Academy. United sources accept their own training complex at Carrington is no longer fit for purpose, though their new first team building is due to be finished later this summer.
McNeill returned to boyhood club United in 2020
Darren Fletcher's sons, Jack and Tyler, spent nine years in the City academy before their homecoming at United in 2014. Both are youth internationals, one for England and one for Scotland. United considered City's simultaneous approach for Harrison Parker to be a "revenge move" after the deal for the Fletchers.
Kobbie Mainoo, born in a City stronghold in Stockport, is another graduate who United figures feel highlights the academy's revival. Those who know Mainoo believe he would have gone to City at youth level had United's academy not been overhauled by Butt and Cox.
United's domestic recruitment has had to become more intense since Brexit regulations prevented English clubs from signing under- 8s from overseas. The Fletcher twins, Harry Amass and Chido Obi have all been involved with the first team. Toby Collyer and Ethan Ennis joined from Brighton and Liverpool in 2022. United include Ayden Heaven, a £1.5million signing from Arsenal's academy, among them.
Obi scored twice for the first team in Hong Kong
Cox was saddened by Brexit blocking United from assembling more multicultural squads. He felt United's ethos always had a blend of local lads and overseas recruits. The Youth Cup winners in 2022 had a Czech, a Norwegian and two Spaniards in the starting XI.
Maxi Oyedele, born in Salford and now at Legia Warsaw, has already played for the Poland national side and is generating notable interest. Zach Baumann, from Bolton, has played for the Ukraine youth team.
With a predominantly British squad, United secured a triple-crown success in 2023-24. The only blemish was on the night they froze in a surprising Youth Cup loss at Swindon Town.
In February 2020, United reached the Youth Cup semi-finals for the first time in eight years. It was not a vintage squad and Mejbri, with 13 appearances, had the most first-team exposure. It nevertheless represented another progressive stride.
United beat Wigan in the 2020 Youth Cup quarter-finals
A potent youth team underachieved in the competition the next year, losing 1-0 to Liverpool at Leigh Sports Village, before the glory in 2022. The final, staged at Old Trafford, set a new record for a Youth Cup attendance as 67,492 clicked through the turnstiles.
Cox was never going to allow that triumph to define the academy. His role was so broad he restructured the coaching staff, rebuilt the sports science team, considered psychological support, redeveloped the performance analysis team and built a life skills programme.
His responsibilities evolved significantly, segueing from effectively a dual-role with Butt. Cox also sensibly downplayed the presence of youngsters training with the first team, attempting to counter the hype and provide context for their temporary promotions.
Charlie Wellens on a rare day training with the first team, 2019
No, it did not mean they were primed to be the next superstar. It is often owed to first team injuries, recovery days or international commitments. It was different when Garnacho missed the Youth Cup final media day at the academy building as Ralf Rangnick deemed him worthy of senior squad status.
Tyrell Warren was one of the first academy players to be namechecked by Mourinho after he took over at United. A former academy teammate of Rashford's, he is now at Grimsby Town in League Two yet the Mancunian remains a shining example of the United academy.
Cox attended United's EFL Trophy match with Barrow in 2022, flanked by Tony Whelan, Dave Bushell and Eamon Mulvey, stalwarts of the United youth set-up. Darren Fletcher was also present at Holker Street.
Warren was an U18 captain
Before kick-off, Warren and Adam Temple, a former United academy coach, entered the boardroom for a catch-up. "That's a classy Manchester United thing to do," Cox enthused. "Because they've been brought up that way. In that they come to welcome us to talk about how their season's going. And you sit there and you go, 'that is youth development in a nutshell'.
"A young lad that's been through your programme that is absolutely maxing out, he has reached his full potential. He's earning a living in the game."
Warren has since moved to Grimsby Town, seven places better off than Barrow last season. He had not hit a wall.