Manchester United transfer need laid bare but Ruben Amorim has eight stars to shape future

‘You’ll never win anything with kids.’

Alan Hansen’s immortal words have gone down in football folklore. Uttered in 1995 after Manchester United had opened the campaign with defeat at Aston Villa. The Reds had ceded the Premier League title to Blackburn a few months earlier and lost an FA Cup final to Everton.

Sir Alex Ferguson’s response was to offload senior players Mark Hughes, Paul Ince and Andrei Kanchelskis and blood the youngsters.

In hindsight it was an obvious decision but that afternoon at Villa Park United side featuring Gary and Phil Neville, Nicky Butt and Paul Scholes were three down at the break. Sub David Beckham pulled one back late on but it was a game that trailed more questions than answers.

United were dumped out of the UEFA Cup by Russian minnows Rotor Volgograd and the League Cup by York City. Yet a few months on the Reds were celebrating a domestic double.

Next season will mark 30 years since that campaign that changed so much for United. And while Ruben Amorim doesn’t quite have a golden generation to call upon to change his side’s fortunes, he has enough young talent to spearhead a Reds revival.

Amad Diallo is already a first team regular at 22 and has been one of the standout players of this campaign, with his cameo off the bench against Athletic Bilbao last week the latest stellar showing.

Leny Yoro too has acclimatised nicely to life at Old Trafford after an injury hit campaign. The £52million man has started to adapt to the system and while there is still room for improvement, his capabilities have been clear for all to see in recent weeks.

It’s easy to forget that Kobbie Mainoo and Alejandro Garnacho are both just 20 with the pair having carried the burden for United under Erik ten