'Kobbie Mainoo is brave and elite with the ball' - The inside view from Manchester United's academy

"Every winner was once a beginner," are the words printed on the Manchester United academy building gym wall.

The faces of academy greats from Sir Bobby Charlton, Paul Scholes, David Beckham and Marcus Rashford adorn the corridors.

There are around 100 yards between the academy set-up and the main building at Carrington, which highlights a literal pathway for youngsters who are striving toward achieving their dream of a debut.

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There are some clubs in the Premier League whose academy buildings are on an entirely different site, but youngsters at United can see where they want to be and coaches hope that's a powerful motivational tool.

There have been 247 players from the academy who have made their senior debuts in a red shirt and Dan Gore was the latest to make his, following on from Charlie McNeill, Kobbie Mainoo and Alejandro Garnacho.

All four of those players won the FA Youth Cup in 2022 and Travis Binnion, who was appointed as the Under-21 manager in the summer, was in charge of that team as they defeated Nottingham Forest.

Binnion has helped oversee the development of the Class of '22 and he recently sat down for an exclusive interview with the Manchester Evening News to discuss all things academy-related this season.

"I’m enjoying it. Last season, I was taking the Under-18s with a responsibility for the U21s, so it was quite fluid," Binnion said.

"It still is fluid and I think the UEFA Youth League highlights that more than anything because you can be dealing with Willy Kambwala and Dan Gore, who are with the first-team a lot of days, to having younger players in the next few games.

"Sometimes it’s