One former Manchester United star has found out just how much can change in football over eight years.
Rewind to 2017 and Jose Mourinho had won the League Cup as Manchester United manager and was hunting for a Europa League trophy.
Ahead of the Europa League final against Ajax, Mourinho fielded an extremely young United side against Crystal Palace on the final day of the 2016/17 season.
Among that young side was Scott McTominay, who went on to play over 100 times for United before joining Napoli in the summer. Starting up front was fellow academy graduate Josh Harrop, who scored in a 2-0 win over Palace.
Photo credit should read OLI SCARFF/AFP via Getty Images
Photo credit should read OLI SCARFF/AFP via Getty Images
Man United debut hero Josh Harrop now in UK Baller League
Harrop rejected a contract extension with United and ended up leaving in 2017 to join Preston North End.
During his five years at Preston, Harrop scored 13 goals in 95 appearances. He then joined Northampton Town and Cheltenham Town before Harrop was drafted in the Baller League.
The Baller League is a new six-vs-six tournament organised by entertainer KSI with several high-profile managers drafting their teams.
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Harrop was drafted into FC RTW, managed by internet personality Clint 419 and he made his debut in the competition last week.
In their opening match against Alisha Lehmann’s and Maya Jama’s MVPs United, they suffered a 5-4 defeat but Harrop was on the scoresheet.
Listed as a midfielder, Harrop started for FC RTW and completed 95.65% of his passes with a shooting accuracy of 50%.
Josh Harrop achieved his ‘dream’ at Man United
Born in Stockport, Harrop grew up in United’s academy before being given his first-team debut by Mourinho.
His United career never took off, and he likely didn’t envision himself playing in a six-a-side tournament eight years later, but Harrop is still proud of his time at Old Trafford.
As quoted by The Guardian, Harrop said: “If it was only once, that was enough for me.
“My dream was to play at Old Trafford. It wasn’t even to score, it was just to play and make a debut.”
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Looking back at his United debut, Harrop recalled what Mourinho said to him: “Mourinho pulled us all into his office beforehand and gave us a bit of a speech to settle our nerves.
“He said, ‘Don’t worry too much about the game, you don’t need to try too much. Just relax and enjoy it.'”