Manchester United centre-back Teden Mengi was handed his senior debut by manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as the 18-year-old came off the bench in the 2-1 win over LASK last night.
The teenager came on with only six minutes to go of normal time, but Solskjaer clearly feels that the defender has a big future at the club after praising him after the game:
“He’s a leader, a [proper] centre-back. He’s one we believe in. He’s in the same age group as Mason [Greenwood]. They grew up together. He’s strong, quick, good on the ball. We’ve got a decent player there.”
Supporters on Twitter are excited by Mengi’s potential:
future captain <3
— Vansh (@_SaucySancho) August 5, 2020
Beginning of something special
— R (@tLastRun18) August 5, 2020
Baller ⭐️
— Adam (@AddyPUTD) August 5, 2020
Only the start ?
— Dyl (@UtdDyl) August 5, 2020
big things coming ?
— cam (@cammundy_) August 5, 2020
Played well despite only playing for around 10 minutes, keep going like this and you’ll be a regular in no time.
— Daniel (@UtdDxn) August 5, 2020
A great confident game ?
— OleGun (@BearwerGun) August 5, 2020
The future ??
— Moustafa Salem?? (@muzzysalem) August 5, 2020
Futures bright ??
— Grinn (@Grinn_z) August 5, 2020
My centerback
— isack haugen sveen (@isackhs) August 5, 2020
It will be interesting to see how quickly he progresses to playing more first-team games. He does have a number of centre-halves ahead of him at the moment, with the likes of Harry Maguire, Victor Lindelof and Eric Bailly.
However, with Phil Jones not match fit, and Axel Tuanzebe out injured, Mengi does have a chance in the coming weeks to make an impression. Whether he’ll make the same impact as his contemporary Mason Greenwood, we shall have to wait and see.