Man Utd’s forgotten wonderkid is back from injury & ready to save Ten Hag’s job

For all the doom and gloom surrounding Manchester United, with a few brief periods of sunshine, since 2013, it can be forgotten that the club still produce some wonderful footballers.

Despite the streakiness of a slice of bacon, Marcus Rashford is the prototype of a modern forward with his directness, ball-striking and record against the biggest opponents.

Meanwhile, Kobbie Mainoo was working his way back to fitness with United’s youth team in October 2023. Twelve months later, he is an indispensable part of the first team’s midfield and played all of England’s knockout matches at Euro 2024.

In total, there have been 247 players from the academy who have made their senior debuts in a red shirt – including Dan Gore.

Having made his United bow against Crystal Palace in a Carabao Cup victory last season, Gore was loaned to Port Vale at the start of 2024 but suffered a leg injury on his debut.

He returned to Old Trafford quietly while Mainoo, who partnered Gore in United’s under-21 midfield, was breaking into the national consciousness.

But Erik ten Hag, thrashing around to save his job on a semi-permanent basis, thinks highly of the 20-year-old midfielder and intended to include Gore on the club’s pre-season tour of America before he was ruled out by surgery on a dislocated shoulder.

It’s been a tough 12 months for the Prestwich-born midfielder, watching United being carved open by several middling opponents in the knowledge his drive and coolness in possession would go some way to rectifying the problem.

Only last year, former United academy graduate Danny Simpson told MUTV: “Up close and personal I thought he was fantastic, strong, athletic, he’s calm on the ball.

“For a young lad he looks very comfortable. It looks like it suits him playing in a Manchester United shirt. Superb.”

Many supporters share this sentiment, meaning clips of Gore running the show in a UEFA Youth League match against Hertha Berlin have got several grown men hot under the collar.

By far the most comfortable of the United midfield under pressure, the youngster was able to evade challenges and skip through the midfield expertly as United’s main driving force.

But it wasn’t just his dribbling that caught the eye; Gore also provided some incisive passes and tough tackles in the game’s engine room and showcased a dynamism that’s been sorely lacking from the first team’s recent displays.

Dan Gore vs Hertha Berlin U21s. pic.twitter.com/HOjH0M6yWH

— 𝙈𝙞𝙯𝙪. (@mizuravage) October 1, 2024

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United signed Gore from Burnley when he was a teenager and Travis Binnion, manager of the club’s under-21 team, has predicted a bright future for the youngster.

“Dan is definitely more confrontational and aggressive in his play, although he’s not a loud kid,” Binnion said in an exclusive interview with Manchester Evening News in 2023.

“He’s got a steeliness about him, he’s competitive by nature and he leads by example in what he does, but he doesn’t shout orders.

“That will probably be the next stage for him as well, as you need to inspire others around you to get them to do what they need to do. Dan has good game understanding and they both think about how they can get better all the time.

“They’re both progressing nicely and Dan was with the first team every day for 12 or 14 weeks before his debut. I think anybody who debuts for us thoroughly deserves it, not just through how they’ve played, but more importantly how they’ve trained.

“Honestly, Dan trains every day like his life depends on it and what I think goes under the radar with him is when we signed him from Burnley at 13, he was actually a centre-forward, so he’s only going to get better.

“We started to play Dan as a midfielder around 15 and 16 and even then, he’s gone from a No.10. to a No.8, to almost a No.6. He’s physically getting better, he’ll learn how to manage the game better and he’s going to improve in possession.

“He’s developing his longer passing now and he’s learning where to be and when to move the ball on. I’m really confident there’s more to come because he’s probably in his fourth season as a midfielder and he’ll keep on excelling.”

United are easing Gore back into action but he is a high-quality player with first-team potential and needs to be patient as he gradually gets minutes back into his legs.

He was substituted on the hour mark and looked disappointed to be replaced but there are guaranteed to be brighter days ahead.

Whether that applies to the club as well as the player depends on Ten Hag’s readiness to roll the dice once more and stake his future on Carrington’s latest gem.

By Michael Lee