Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim has backed Jack Fletcher and Shea Lacey to make their marks for the club, with the academy duo in line for first-team debuts in the not too distant future.
Fletcher, 18, is yet to make his senior debut for the Red Devils, but the versatile midfielder was on the bench against Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League last time out.
The England Under-19s international, who is the son of ex-Man United midfielder Darren Fletcher, has scored twice and registered one assist in seven Premier League 2 appearances this season.
Lacey, meanwhile, is an 18-year-old right-sided attacker, and he was long been considered to be one of the best young talents in the academy system across English football.
The Liverpool-born forward has scored twice and registered one assist in five Premier League 2 appearances this term, and he finally appears to have overcome the injury issues which have stalled his career.
Lacey has only managed to make nine starts in the last two seasons, but he appeared in Man United's two friendlies at the end of the 2025-26 campaign, and Amorim is said to be a huge fan of the teenager.
Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim feature image
Man United duo Fletcher, Lacey backed for first-team involvement
Man United will lose Noussair Mazraoui (Morocco), Amad Diallo (Ivory Coast) and Bryan Mbeumo (Cameroon) during the Africa Cup of Nations, which begins on December 21, 2025 and ends on January 18, 2026.
Amorim has said that Fletcher and Lacey are both ready to make their marks for the first team.
“I think it’s going to be hard,” The Sun quotes Amorim as saying when asked about the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations. “But then that is the good thing of the experience.
“We lived so many limitations last year, because we changed in January, and we didn’t bring the players, and then we had the injury of Amad for four months, all these things.
“So we are prepared for that even if it will be hard for us. But we have different baggage to deal with that. And again, I think guys like Jack Fletcher, Shea, a lot of guys, they can step up.
Manchester United's Shea Lacey on May 30, 2025
Amorim "really happy" with highly-rated Lacey
“And we can send at the same time a message to everyone here, in the academy, that this is the future. But we are going to struggle, and we have to be prepared for that."
When asked about Lacey, Amorim said: “I’m really happy with him. I think he struggled a little bit with injuries, they did a very good job balancing his body.
“You can sense that he can manage more load during training, he has a lot of talent. But when they come here, they can sense the speed is completely different. So they need to spend more time with us to be prepared, because our trainings are hard.”
Fletcher could keep his spot in the squad for Monday's Premier League clash against Everton at Old Trafford if Kobbie Mainoo misses out once again, while Matheus Cunha is a major doubt due to a training-ground incident, so Lacey may also be in contention for a place on the bench.
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