Manchester United's record with home grown talent may never again reach the halcyon days of the Class of '92, but the Red Devils still know a thing or two about producing top quality youngsters and 16-year-old Angel Gomes may be one of the most exciting Old Trafford prodigies of his generation.
Since Giggs, Scholes, Beckham, Butt and the Nevilles helped inspire United to a decade of dominance throughout the '90s (and in the case of Giggs, Scholes and Gary Neville, the '00s as well), United have continued to supplement their expensive imports with academy starlets, often with differing degrees of success.
The likes of Wes Brown, John O'Shea and Darren Fletcher may not extremely set the pulse racing, but all three of these players were entrusted by Sir Alex Ferguson as valuable members of his first team squad for a decade or more. Brown and Fletcher even earned themselves places in the PFA Team Of The Year in 2001 and 2010 respectively.
O'Shea and Fletcher may not have been all time greats like the class of '92, but they still played important roles in a lot of United's successes throughout the '00s. Image: PA
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Until Marcus Rashford burst into the starting XI as a replacement for an injured Anthony Martial last February, no teenager who had come through the ranks in the previous 24 years had captured the imagination of the Old Trafford crowd. Federico Macheda and Adnan Januzaj burned out the second their fuses were lit, Paul Pogba had left for Juventus and Ravel Morrison proved to be unmanageable.
Morrison was tipped to be United's next big thing , back in 2011. Image: PA
Of course, thanks to a world record fee Pogba would return to Manchester and United fans will be hoping they don't have to endure the same case of back-and-forth to re-sign Gomes from a European giant, eight years from now.
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The teenage attacking midfielder became the Premier League's youngest ever player when he replaced Wayne Rooney during Sunday's 2-0 victory over Crystal Palace at Old Trafford, aged 16 years and 263 days old. The England U16 and U17 international also became United's youngest debutant since the legendary Duncan Edwards first pulled on a red shirt in 1953.
The 16-year-old replaced United captain Wayne Rooney against Crystal Palace, last Sunday. Image: PA
Gomes, who has captained England at both U16 and U17 level, has also been receiving rave reviews from former United youth coach Paul McGuinness, who dismissed the English notion that players who are small in stature are often no good to anyone, in an interview with Sky Sports News.
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"I suppose that's our country. People doubt players if they're short in stature but no-one is doubting Andres Iniesta or David Silva. He's got the potential to be that type of player and, in England, you just don't get many players like that.
"If you play him with better players, he'll get better himself and create chances for them. You don't want to build him up too soon but I'm sure they'll handle all that at United."
The future? Image: PA
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While it is undoubtedly too soon to be comparing a 16-year-old with less than 10 minutes of Premier League action to World Cup and European Championship winners, it is clear that a lot of hopes could be resting on Angel Gomes' shoulders in a few years time at Old Trafford.
(H/T Goal)
Topics: Football, Manchester United, Angel Gomes