Victory in the Youth Cup on Wednesday night was another step in the right direction, and further reward for one pillar of the club which has been effectively overhauled in recent memory.
Prior to being appointed the club's inaugural football director last year,
John Murtough was tasked with overseeing the overhaul of United's overhaul of the academy and recruitment department.
A key aspect of the rebuild was putting the right personnel in place around the academy, with the appointment of individuals who could not only continue the youth to uphold the club's famed youth set-up but bring in fresh ideas to innovate it as well.
Murtough brought Nick Cox into the club and backed his appointment as the head of the academy, taking over the role from club great Nicky Butt. That summer also saw Youth Cup winning manager Travis Binnion arrive at the club as the head of player development at U14-U16 level, before taking his latest role as U18 lead coach a year ago.
It was last summer that United moved to appoint Justin Cochrane too. The 40-year-old had offers from the Football League and was in the running for the England U21 job before being tempted to move to United to work as the head of first-team development.
Just as important, though, has been the recruitment of players.
As part of the academy overhaul, United revamped their scouting and coaching operations to ensure they were competing for the best available domestic talent, as well as looking further afield for international recruits.
It was Murtough who chaperoned teenager Hannibal Mejbri at United's 2019 pre-season friendly with Kristiansund in Norway. On that trip, the French-born midfielder met Paul Pogba and was sold by the club's long-term vision for him, rejecting offers from Bayern Munich and Barcelona to move to Manchester.
A year later, and United scoured Spain for a trio of top talents. Alvaro Fernandez joined from Real Madrid, Marc Jurado from Barcelona, and Alejandro Garnacho from Atletico Madrid.
Jurado and Garnacho both shone in the Youth Cup win over Nottingham Forest. On the same night, defender Fernandez was named the club's U23 Player of the Year.
In the same summer, United lured Joe Hugill from Sunderland amid rival interest from Arsenal and Tottenham while Charlie McNeill rejoined the club from local rivals Man City. Both captures were evidence of United's rising stock in the youth game; both of the forwards played in the Youth Cup win this week.
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