Charlie McNeill reveals he was 'buzzing' to make his Manchester United debut earlier this season. The promising young striker, to his own surprise, was substituted in late on in the 1-0 defeat to Real Sociedad in the Europa League.
As a childhood United fan, the fact his first appearance was playing up front alongside Cristiano Ronaldo made it even sweeter. “I’ve always loved Ronaldo since he first played for United before going to Real Madrid," he told the South Wales Argus. “I just loved him and fortunately enough I got to make my debut and was playing up front with him.
That was just surreal, a dream come true. READ MORE: Why United net debt has risen and revenues have fallen “I thought I was getting close [to a debut] a couple of times and then the new manager [Erik ten Hag] came in and I’d been training really well. “He saw that and put me in the squad but I didn’t think that I would come on because we were getting beaten 1-0.
He put me on and I was just buzzing to play in front of 75,000.” The 19-year-old hasn't been able to add to his six minutes for Ten Hag just yet and left the club on loan for the rest of the season in January, joining Newport County and a relegation scrap at the bottom of League Two.