Darren Fletcher’s son Jack has travelled to London for Manchester United’s clash with Tottenham on Saturday afternoon.
The 18-year-old is yet to make his first-team debut for United, but featured on the bench on several occasions last season and comes in for Kobbie Mainoo, who is absent through injury.
For the past four games, Mainoo has been the only academy graduate in Amorim’s squad, with 39-year-old Tom Heaton having slipped down the pecking order since the arrival of Belgian goalkeeper Senne Lammens.
Fletcher’s inclusion in the matchday squad preserves an 88-year record for the club, ensuring that there has been an academy player involved in each of the last 4,332 successive games. The sequence began on 30 October 1937, when Tom Manley and Jack Wassall featured in an away match at Fulham.
An England youth international, Jack’s father is Darren, the former United academy graduate who won six league titles and a European Cup among nine major honours, and is now the club’s under-18s head coach.
Fletcher, a skilful left-footed midfielder, signed from Manchester City in July 2023 alongside his twin brother Tyler for a combined fee of £1.25 million.
Darren Fletcher’s son Jack has travelled to London for Man United’s clash with Tottenham
An England youth international, Jack’s father is Darren, the former United academy graduate who won six league titles among nine major honours and is the current under-18s head coach
Fletcher has been picked for England’s Under-19 squad for their trio of European Championship qualifiers in Lithuania and could meet twin Tyler, who is in Scotland’s squad
Fletcher has been picked for England’s Under-19 squad for their trio of European Championship qualifiers in Lithuania, beginning next week. He could meet Tyler, who is in Scotland’s squad.
His selection appears to be a deliberate decision from United, with manager Ruben Amorim previously expressing his desire to maintain the club’s tradition.
‘We want to maintain that, I don’t want to be the guy to break that record, or that idea,’ Amorim said in September.
‘If you see the past of Manchester United, it’s built on kids who grow up here for a long time. I think that should be our goal in the future, so I should try to maintain that, that is for sure.’
United define a homegrown player as one who joined the club before the age of 21, played at a junior level below the first team, and has not represented another side at senior level.
The other academy product to have been included in a squad this season is Stockport-born Tyler Fredricson. The 20-year-old defender started for United in their Carabao Cup defeat at Grimsby.
Last month, Jim Ratcliffe criticised the academy, telling the Times’ Business Podcast: ‘The other thing that we haven’t even begun to start with is the academy, which is fundamentally important in football.
The other academy product to have been included in a squad this season is Tyler Fredricson
Mainoo has yet to start a Premier League game this season ahead of next summer’s World Cup
‘The academy has really slipped at Manchester United. But you need the academy to be producing talent all the time. It helps you financially. And you have to have a certain number of British players in your squad.’
Meanwhile, Kobbie Mainoo’s injury will be a concern after the 20-year-old was once again omitted from Thomas Tuchel’s England squad.
Mainoo has yet to start a Premier League game this season, and his World Cup hopes appear to be fading as Ruben Amorim continues to favour a midfield pairing of Bruno Fernandes and Casemiro.
It marks the first major setback of the youngster’s career, coming just months after his request for a summer loan move was rejected.
His situation mirrors the broader trend of academy talents seeking opportunities elsewhere. Marcus Rashford is on loan at Barcelona, Alejandro Garnacho made a summer move to Chelsea, and Scott McTominay has been thriving at Napoli following his £26 million transfer last year.
