Man Utd legend’s son makes debut for U18s as he plays alongside starlets including Barcelona target JJ Gabriel

MANCHESTER UNITED welcomed back the name of Carrick to their teamsheet as the son of the Red Devils icon made his Under-18s debut today.

Michael Carrick‘s son, Jacey, was named on the bench for the Under-18s clash against Newcastle United at Carrington.

The starting XI named by another club hero in Darren Fletcher, who is now the club’s Under-18 head coach, contained highly-rated youngsters JJ Gabriel, Bendito Mantato and Godwill Kukonki.

Fresh off the back of a 7-0 win against Liverpool last week, the United youngsters found the Magpies to be a tougher nut to crack as they failed to break the deadlock in the first half.

However, Douka Nkoto eventually broke the deadlock off the bench in the 53rd minute before adding a second shortly after.

There was then an Under-18 debut for Carrick as he replaced Barcelona target Gabriel – who impressed with some glitzy nutmegs – with 20 minutes to go.

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But the game was settled as a contest seconds later thanks to a goal from Kukonki in the 70th minute.

Carrick Jr plays in the same position as his old man, central midfield.

The left-footer has often played in the same age group as Wayne Rooney’s son, Kai.

And he may even follow in the footsteps of his dad after Carrick captained United Under-16s during an overseas friendly in Hong Kong in the summer.

Carrick has already won national titles at Under-14 and Under-15 level and has featured for England across youth levels at the same age.

Cultured Three Lions and Man Utd icon Carrick spent 12 years at Old Trafford, winning a clean sweep of trophies including five Premier League titles, three League Cups and both the Champions League and Europa League.

He hung up his playing boots at United in 2018 before moving into an assistant coaching role under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

The 44-year-old had a four-game spell as interim manager when Solskjaer was sacked in 2021, before leaving the club to become manager of Middlesbrough.

But he was sacked from the role at the end of June after failing to earn promotion with the Championship outfit.

He has been linked with a number of managerial roles since then but has kept himself busy by working as a technical analyst with Uefa.

Both of Fletcher’s kids, Jack and Tyler, are also eyeing a spot in the first-team.

However, despite words to the contrary, Ruben Amorim has appeared reluctant to use the club’s academy stars – epitomised with the lack of minutes given to Kobbie Mainoo who started the Euro 2024 final for England and scored in the FA Cup final only two seasons ago.

Mainoo, 20, has played 171 minutes this season and Paul Scholes accused Amorim of “bulls***” after he said he considered Mainoo a “starter like the other players”.

In an Instagram post, Scholes fumed that Mainoo, “is being ruined, not being played in a team that can’t control a game of football. 

“Hate seeing home grown players leave but it’s probably best for him now, enough is enough.”

When questioned about Mainoo’s place in the team following the tepid West Ham draw, Amorim said: “I don’t know what is going to happen. It depends. If I see in the training it is the best thing, I will put it. 

“That is the only way I know how to respond to that. My job is to answer but I am trying to answer always the same thing. And you ask me always the same thing.

“I understand what you are saying. You love Kobbie. He starts for England, but that doesn’t mean I need to put Kobbie when I feel I shouldn’t put Kobbie.”