Gabriele Biancheri celebrates after scoring a penalty in the FA Youth Cup.
Gabriele Biancheri has been in brilliant goalscoring form this season.
Wales brought their Elite Round qualifying campaign for the European Under-19 Championship to a close with a 3-1 win over Turkey on Tuesday evening.
After being beaten 2-0 by England and 1-0 by Portugal in their previous qualifiers earlier in the international break, Wales ended their campaign on a high with an impressive victory in Rhyl.
Among the goalscorers for Chris Gunter's side was young Manchester United striker Gabriele Biancheri, who got himself back among the goals after being unable to make his mark in the recent defeats to England and Portugal.
The 18-year-old netted Wales' second goal of the game, putting them 2-1 ahead, after Turkey's Boran Baskan had earlier cancelled out Freddie Issaka's opener. Biancheri tapped the ball home into an empty net from inside the six-yard box after Wales had launched a rapid counter-attack.
That marked his ninth goal in just 11 games since making his debut for Wales' Under-19s in March last year. It also marked his fourth goal in his last four appearances for his country.
Scoring goals has become a running theme for Biancheri this season, with the youngster, who joined United from Cardiff City in February 2023, going from strength-to-strength.
Following his goal against Turkey, Biancheri has now scored 29 goals for club and country combined this season, with 22 of them coming in United colours. His record makes impressive reading for a player that only turned 18 back in September.
The youngster has scored nine goals in the Under-18s Premier League this season, plundered three in the Under-18s Premier League Cup, scored three times in the UEFA Youth League, claimed a hat-trick in the FA Youth Cup, scored three times in the Premier League 2 for the Under-21s and scored a solitary goal in the Premier League International Cup, also for the Under-21s.
With the goals having flowed regularly for Biancheri this season, it is hardly surprising United staff and supporters alike are excited by the striker's potential. He is developing at rapid speed, and the fact he is now just one goal short of 30 for club and country this season deserves recognition.
Gabriele Biancheri has developed at rapid speed this season. (Image: Manchester United/Manchester United via Getty Images.)
What is all the more impressive about his record this season is that he missed a portion of the campaign after undergoing minor surgery on an injury in January. He has overcome that setback and has stored minutes under his belt for both United's Under-18s and Under-21s since.
After starting the season as United's leading frontman for the Under-18s, he was joined in that age category by Chido Obi, who arrived from Arsenal in September. Obi has already graduated to the first-team squad and made his senior debut, despite being born 14 months after his fellow striker.
For all of the talk and the attention that has been focused on Obi, Biancheri must be feeling as though he is also worthy of such hype. Of course, their are respective differences in their profiles and strengths, but he is doing what all strikers are judged on: scoring goals.
Of course, the gap between youth football and first-team football is an enormous one, and not every player after crossing that particular bridge is able to replicate what they have done at youth level. It remains to be seen if Obi will blossom into the player United envision he can become.
But as he aims to remain a permanent fixture in United head coach Ruben Amorim's first-team plans, Biancheri will have dreams of joining the Dane in the first-team before too long. He has already stepped up to the Under-21s ahead of schedule and will be hoping his haul of 29 goals this season soon catches Amorim's attention.
It may be unrealistic to suggest he could force his way into Amorim's plans before the end of this season, but he could most certainly be a contender to make the plane for the club's pre-season tour of the United States in July.
Amorim is a fan of promoting young players and there is no doubt he will be aware of the great strides Biancheri has made at youth level this season. Ineos, too, are in favour of developing and overseeing the growth of young talent.
Furthermore, with the World Cup now a little over 12 months away, Biancheri will be dreaming of making the Wales squad in the event of Craig Bellamy's men qualifying. That incentive may strengthen Biancheri's dream of following in Obi's footsteps and making the breakthrough at Old Trafford.