Amad has given Manchester United teammate the blueprint to revive their career

There were a few murmurings on social media ahead of Manchester United's win over Leicester at the weekend that Antony Elanga was going to start.

These turned out to be false, as accounts looking to grow their following by leaking early team news paid the price for jumping the gun, and the Swede was named on the bench.

Sometimes you need to take a step back, and although Erik ten Hag is prone to a wildcard team selection, it was always going to be highly unlikely that Elanga would start a game that meant so much.

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The 20-year-old is at a crossroads in his United career. He made the well-deserved jump to the first-team permanently last season, but has since stagnated, and is no longer the new kid on the block.

He has made 22 appearances so far this season but has only played 645 minutes of football, fewer than the injury-prone Anthony Martial and even fewer than January arrival Wout Weghorst.

United's production line of academy talent is so successful that it is only a matter of time before another comes along, that has proven to be the case in the shape of Alejandro Garnacho, who has already overtaken him in the pecking order.

Instead, it was the 18-year-old who started at the weekend, a huge endorsement of Ten Hag's growing trust in the teenager as well as another approval of his obvious ability.

Garnacho is very much viewed as the future, while Elanga is already being viewed as yesterday's man. He has not been helped by the fact that his breakthrough coincided with the club's worst-ever Premier League season.

Thursday marks one year to the day that Elanga had his crowning moment at the club, netting the equalising goal against Atletico Madrid in the