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Manchester United’s loss to Arsenal on Sunday effectively ended their hopes of a top four finish in the Premier League, and the team performance was - generally speaking - a shit sandwich. It wasn’t all bad news though, as United fans got a potential glimpse of the future in the full debut of teenage defender Axel Tuanzebe.
Tuanzebe has been highly rated for some time now, and was earmarked for future involvement by José Mourinho as early as last pre-season. A defensive injury crisis and the need to rotate the likes of Eric Bailly and Antonio Valencia meant that Tuanzebe was finally given his first start at the weekend.
Marking Alexis Sánchez while playing in a unfamiliar right-back role is certainly one way to test a young player, but Tuanzebe passed with flying colors.
Judging by his post-match interview, he seems like a level headed lad as well. Let’s hope we see more of him in the remaining games of the season.