Ole Gunnar Solskjaer could hand teenage defender Teden Mengi his first-team Manchester United debut in Wednesday’s evening’s Europa League game against LASK at Old Trafford.
The Reds have an almost unassailable 5-0 first-leg lead over their Austrian opposition, meaning this fixture is a procession before their quarter-final against Istanbul Basaksehir or Copenhagen.
Solskjaer therefore has the chance to rotate his squad considerably, with plenty of peripheral players getting the chance to shine and key players having a well earned rest.
Jesse Lingard has already been confirmed as a guaranteed starter by Solskjaer in Tuesday’s pre-match press conference.
“Jesse will be starting tomorrow, but the team won’t be too different from LASK in March,” he said, as quoted by the Manchester Evening News.
Solskjaer has plenty of other selection decisions to make and the Norwegian is expected to make a whole host of changes.
And the Metro note that Mengi, 18, is in line to make his first start with Victor Lindelof or Harry Maguire likely to be rested.
Mengi trained with the first-team after lockdown with Phil Jones and Axel Tuanzebe ruled out injured, and has long been considered one of the next most exciting talents in the academy.
The Manchester-born youngster was an unused substitute in United’s group stage defeat to Astana in Kazakhstan in November.
But it would be fantastic to see the Under 18’s captain get the opportunity to shine at Old Trafford after a series of impressive performances for Neil Wood’s Under 23 side before youth football’s curtailment due to coronavirus.
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