Manchester United had to battle past a Luton defence at the weekend featuring prodigious talent Teden Mengi.
Teden Mengi looked like a nailed on breakthrough talent at Manchester United, making his debut for the club at 18, before going on loan to the Championship.
He was eventually sold this past summer after a series of injuries which meant his last Manchester United appearance in December 2021 was his final one.
Mengi landed a move to newly promoted Luton, and has become a regular starter, impressing in a recent draw at Liverpool before his solid game at Old Trafford last week.
Rio Ferdinand on Teden Mengi
Teden Mengi was one of two former Manchester United academy players to feature in Luton’s 1-0 defeat, with Tahith Chong a second half substitute.
Mengi, 21, was sold for a small fee in the summer, and would probably be worth more if United had simply sent him on loan to Luton instead, but club and player had a clean break.
Former centre-back Rio Ferdinand was asked if he felt Manchester United made the wrong decision to sell Mengi in the summer, and did not agree.
He told Five: “Not when you’ve got that many injuries. It’s difficult, we’ve always spoken highly of him. Potential-wise, ability-wise it was never in question at Manchester United, it was just the ability to stay fit, he couldn’t.
“So that’s why he never got his chance, why he never broke through. With injuries, you are only as good as whether you can stay out on the pitch.”
Mengi was unfortunate to have two loan spells at Derby County and then Birmingham City cut short by hamstring injuries.
Then last season when selected as a starter by Erik ten Hag in a winter friendly in Spain, he was stretchered off in the opening minutes of the game, and only recovered in time to play a couple of under-21 games at the end of the season.
Erik ten Hag acknowledged Teden Mengi
Manchester United’s manager Erik ten Hag was seen embracing Teden Mengi after the game at Old Trafford, showing a personal touch.
The youngster was a player who everybody at the club would have liked to see succeed. Former boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer even compared him to Ten Hag’s former protege Matthijs De Ligt.
But as Ferdinand points out, talent alone cannot make it. You have to be lucky with injuries. Mengi’s recent years were certainly unlucky, and we hope his fortunes continue to look up, as they have done at Luton so far.
from United In Focus https://ift.tt/cYehy7r