Alejandro Garnacho and Manchester United youngsters are benefitting from smart unnoticed call

Manchester United signed Tom Heaton, Jadon Sancho, Raphael Varane and Cristiano Ronaldo last summer. So the appointment of Justin Cochrane as head of player development and coaching in the academy was hardly going to rival those in terms of headlines.

United were expected to contend for the Premier League this season with those signings, but that challenge never really began. This season now cannot end quick enough.

But while it has been a campaign of disappointment and failure, that mediocrity has not festered down throughout United's academy. The club's youth setup continues to impress and their season should be celebrated.

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United's academy has been the only constant at the club over the past decade. You can find reassurance and comfort in the academy still operating at an elite level despite those above them wrestling with failure. United's U18s sauntered to the FA Youth Cup final this month and 'Glory, Glory Man United' was played at Old Trafford. You'd be forgiven for forgetting what that sounded like.

It was a summer of change for United's academy last year. Travis Binnion replaced Neil Ryan as the U18 coach, Cochrane was brought into the fold and Neil Wood remained manager of the U23s. Those key decisions in the academy are already paying off.

You'd not find one person in the academy that prioritises results over development but those two are undeniably entwined. United place an emphasis on development and the rest sorts itself. United's U18s' journey to the FA Youth Cup final has been a success story but staff aren't getting carried away. There will finally be wide smiles on faces should United eventually win