'He's a good kid' - Manchester United forgotten player makes return for academy vs Tottenham

Teden Mengi will celebrate his 21st birthday this weekend and he couldn't have hoped for a better gift than his first competitive start for Manchester United since leaving the pitch on a stretcher during a friendly in Spain five months ago.

With the World Cup in Qatar still ongoing, Erik ten Hag brought a youthful squad to the winter training camp in Andalucia in December and Mengi was among those hoping to take his chance, but disaster struck again for the academy product.

Mengi went down with an injury against Real Betis, which forced him to be taken off the pitch on a stretcher. He was faced with another stint on the treatment table and that also meant he was unable to leave on loan in January.

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The centre-back made his senior debut against LASK in the Europa League in August 2020, which was the moment he wanted to progress from, but football has been cruel to him since, forcing him to deal with multiple injuries.

Mark Dempsey, Under-21 manager, spoke about Mengi after a draw against Arsenal earlier this month and he said: "He’s done well. He’s been back for a couple of weeks now, but he’s not quite back up to what we deem as match fitness.

"You would think so [loan away in the summer], but you never know, what the manager thinks or pre-season can always change plans. Teden has been out, he’s played at a number of clubs, and he’s tried and tested.

"So please to god he’ll not get any more injuries. He’s had trouble with some niggly injuries and some long-term injuries, but he’s a good kid, another local kid, who we want to go on, progress and to do well."

Mengi was given the armband by Dempsey against Tottenham on Friday night and the smile on his face