Man Utd captain Bruno Fernandes has been waxing lyrical about Shea Lacey’s development during pre-season.

The Portuguese international says the academy product’s technical ability was “never in doubt”, but he has come on leaps and bounds in other areas of his game:

“Shea came with a different mentality this season in terms of playing off the ball – it’s been great. It was one of the first things I said to him when I got back. Because I had to watch the first three pre-season friendlies and he was playing in the position I play, where it demands a lot of running and emotional intelligence to be covering spaces and helping the ones in front. And he did that very well.”

“His technical ability was never in doubt; he is an exceptional player. He has some very good abilities. I am always joking with him because I coached him during my badges when he was 14.”

“I was basically his manager for one day, me and Juan Mata. I tell him he is much better now than when he was 14. He’s much more mature; he’s doing very well. He is always on it in training, and that is something they all need to do.”

Lacey has only made a handful of first-team appearances

The 19-year-old came on against Hull City at the weekend. It was only his 5th game for the senior team, having made his debut against Aston Villa in December last year.

Lacey also played in both of Darren Fletcher’s matches as caretaker manager (against Burnley and the FA Cup tie versus Brighton), before Michael Carrick gave him the last half hour against Brighton in the league on the final day of the 2025/26 campaign.

Will he have the space to develop at Man Utd?

Lacey generally prefers to play off the right flank, cutting in onto his preferred left foot, but as Fernandes mentions, he has also played as a no.10 in pre-season.

To be perfectly honest, it’s hard to see where he will get game time other than in the domestic cups. Bryan Mbeumo and Amad are competing with him for starts on the right, while Fernandes and Mason Mount are vying for starts as the lone attacking midfielder.

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