Mourinho prediction and battling Mbappe - the story of Axel Tuanzebe's Manchester United career

"A tremendous defender, a great leader. He's come through the academy and we've known for years that he's going to be a top player for us. He's got the character and the attitude that a Man United player should have."

It was supposed to be the night that made him at Manchester United. Instead, it ended up being the peak of a 17-year stay at the club that officially ended this week.

There were no surprises when United announced the release of seven players yesterday, though there was a slight feeling of sorrow at the confirmation that Axel Tuanzebe's time was up.

Tuanzebe joined United at the age of eight, captaining the club at every level, including the first-team, when he donned the armband against Rochdale, the town he had been brought up in since moving from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

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In his time at the club, he won the Young Player of the Year award and the Reserve Team Player of the Year award. There was also the time he broke the Guinness World Record for the fastest time to individually clear a game of Hungry Hungry Hippos while on United's pre-season tour five years ago.

Tuanzebe had always been highly rated throughout his time at United and notably earned huge praise from Jose Mourinho after his first-team debut in a 2017 FA Cup game against Wigan.

"You can play for 90 minutes or one minute. Sometimes one minute is enough," Mourinho said. "With Axel, ten minutes is enough! The potential is there, you see it immediately.

"You know him better than me because you've known him for a few years, but if anyone sees him for the first time, ten minutes is enough to see the potential."

Despite his enormous potential, he was stuck in an awkward limbo.