Manchester United have a proud tradition, stretching back over four decades, of having at least one academy graduate in their match-day squads.
They kept that up at Crystal Palace, this afternoon, by including Andreas Pereira, Jesse Lingard and 17-year-old defender Axel Tuanzebe.
Tuanzebe’s appearance on the bench comes after injuries to the likes of Paddy McNair and Antonion Valencia, and with Tyler Blackett [loan to Celtic] and Jonny Evans shipped out.
Well done to Axel Tuanzebe, who makes #mufc’s senior squad for the first time! The 17-year-old will wear no.38. pic.twitter.com/KAfgnBM6qp
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) October 31, 2015
Tuanzebe’s inclusion sparked some frantic searches of Google and ‘Who’s that guy?’ questions on Twitter.
https://twitter.com/UtdDi/status/660451547218751488
Who is Axel tuanzebe???
— Jamal Cartman (@doclewisville) October 31, 2015
https://twitter.com/MatchoftheDave/status/660457826246987776
For the teenager’s part, he captained the United U18 side last year and won that side’s Player of the Year accolade. He has dual British and DR Congo nationality.
Interviewed recently about his rise within the Red Devils, Tuanzebe comments, “As the [U18] season continued, we just grew together as a team. I respected them and they respected me. It developed me as a person and now I feel more of a leader.
“I believe, one day, I can be a leader for this club. It would be my dream.”
Here are some of the teenager’s highlights from last season.
