Academy still important to Man Utd - Amorim

Manchester United youngster Shea Lacey in action for England Under-20s against Switzerland on 10 October
- Published
Although they got slightly lost amid his headline-grabbing comments about Ruben Amorim needing three years to make a full impact at Manchester United, minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe raised a few eyebrows with his negativity about the club's academy in his interview with The Times last week.
Ratcliffe said standards in the academy had "really slipped".
This came at a time when one graduate, Scott McTominay, was nominated for the Ballon D'Or, Alejandro Garnacho has just been sold to Chelsea for £40m and there is a huge clamour for Kobbie Mainoo to be picked more regularly by United head coach Amorim after Italian title winners Napoli wanted to sign him on loan in the summer.
Under coach Travis Binnion, United are top of Premier League 2, with a 100% record from their six games, while Darren Fletcher's Under-18 side have only suffered one defeat thanks to a second half comeback by Manchester City.
The likes of Shea Lacey, Jim Thwaites and Jack Fletcher are among those to impress already this season and featured for England's junior teams, while full-back Harry Amass is impressing on loan at Sheffield Wednesday.
With a number of senior players given an extra day off following their international commitments, Amorim brought numerous young players into his training session on Thursday.
In a world where finances are monitored more closely than ever before, he understands the value of developing young players, even if they don't go on to play for United.
"Especially now, with (financial) fair play, the academy is really important," said Amorim. "We need to take care of that.
"We also need to give the right conditions for all the people to do a better job.
"We are always in contact with Travis, trying to bring the right kids to training and to make that relationship with the academy."