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Meet Manchester United's latest wonderkid

Meet Manchester United's U-21 star James Wilson, who has been named on the bench for today's game with Newcastle.

Alex Livesey

Manchester United have already had one young youth star break into the first team this season, with Adnan Januzaj having an immediate impact at the top level. Hopefully striker James Wilson will do the same, and his appearance on the bench for today's game against Newcastle United is the start of his path to the top.

The similarities to Januzaj end there, with the 18-year-old more of a centre-forward than a creative winger. The England U-19 impressed with a glorious performance for United's U-21s against Wolverhampton Wanderers last month, netting a hat-trick before being substituted:

However, while he may be most effective up front, he's certainly no target man. He's slight, skilful and impressively quick, and showed all of those attributes with a glorious goal against Burnley last December. It's perhaps no consequence that the Championship club have been linked with bringing Wilson in on an emergency loan:

One man who should know him better than most is United coach Clayton Blackmore, who's offered up a more detailed description on the official website:

"For me, it is only a matter of time before he breaks into the first team. He is very direct when he gets on the ball and with what he does around about the box with his shooting. At 15, he was the best I have seen at finishing.

"I've watched a lot of games and it's sometimes hard to get him in on goal because he is often playing up front on his own and is marked by two centre-backs. So it can be difficult for him to get on the ball but he's good at running at people and getting shots off."

The biggest concern at the moment seems to be whether he's physically ready for the rigours of the Premier League. But with there being almost nothing to play for over the remaining games of the league season, there can't be too much harm in giving him some game time.

Regardless of what happens this season, with Robin van Persie and Javier Hernández both having been linked with moves away from Old Trafford, we're almost certainly going to see more of Wilson over the coming year. Watch this space.