Manchester United oversaw the exits of multiple players last summer, but one wonderkid is keen to remind them of what they lost.
An unwanted key tenet of Ineos’ transfer market philosophy is their eagerness to cash in on academy products in the name of “pure profit”.
Selling Scott McTominay to fund Manuel Ugarte has aged like milk, and now, another wonderkid who left Old Trafford last summer is making his mark.
Unlike McTominay, he is also happy to advertise his success story after he took a bet on himself.
Louie Bradbury is scoring for fun after Man Utd exit
Scoring comes naturally for Louie Bradbury, as he was one of the most prolific players at Carrington as well, but you can’t really take those numbers at face value.
The United academy is regularly one of the best in England, so naturally, the striker gets a lot of chances to score and rack up the figures.
Getty Images
Despite being one of the most exciting talents at Carrington last season due to his sheer volume of goals, Bradbury didn’t see a first-team pathway at the club.
He signed for Stoke City in the hope of taking one step back to take two forward, hoping that a first-team berth will be quicker at the Championship club.
He has left no stone unturned to make that dream a reality, scoring an U18s hat-trick on debut, against Man City no less, and continuing his form thereafter.
After striking again in his latest game, Bradbury posted on Instagram a picture of himself celebrating with the caption, “9 goals in 6,” with a grinning emoji.
Keeping that scoring streak going for Stoke counts for much more than at United, and if he keeps this up, he could debut for the first team before the end of this season.
Stoke are not a very free-scoring team, so if a player guarantees goals every time he steps onto the pitch, then he’s worth his weight in gold.
Bradbury signed a scholarship deal at Stoke so United won’t even be entitled to much compensation if he makes it at Stoke, or moves to another club thereafter.
Regardless, the coaches at Carrington will be happy to see another success story from the academy making a name for himself in professional football.
Bradbury’s daring move to leave the comfort of United to chase a first-team berth elsewhere is paying off.