History-making Manchester United wonderkid sends game-time message to Erik ten Hag

Ethan Wheatley will have hoped Erik ten Hag took notice of his hat-trick for Manchester United Under-21s on Friday, four months on from his last senior appearance.

The attacker became the 250th academy product to make his first-team debut in April when coming on for a brief cameo appearance against Sheffield United. Two more appearances followed before the end of last season; a 10-minute spell against Crystal Palace and a late entrance against Arsenal in May.

Amid several injuries, Wheatley has been included in three senior matchday squads this term, including against Liverpool, but has yet to make his first outing of the campaign. In the meantime, he has netted five times in six academy matches.

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Three of them came as a half-time substitute in Friday’s 5-3 win over Norwich Under-21s in Premier League 2, during which Ethan Williams and Malachi Sharpe also scored. The team was captained by Dan Gore, who made his senior almost exactly a year ago, while the highly-rated Harry Amass and Ethan Ennis also featured.

Meanwhile, attacking midfielder James Scanlon will hope his four goals in Saturday’s 9-0 thrashing of Blackburn Rovers for United's Under-18s likewise grabs the attention of first-team coaches. His haul means the teenager now has five goals in as many Premier League U18 games this season.

Wales Under-19 striker Gabriele Biancheri, tipped for a bright future having joined from Cardiff City 18 months ago, netted twice inside 31 minutes while Zachary Baumann, Dante Plunkett and Godwill Kukonki also managed to score.

The Under-18s have won all five of their league