Nick Cox on new first-year scholars and pre-season

Many of these special moments were captured in MUTV’s Lifeblood series, which has been fantastic to see come together over the last nine months. The third film, out recently, showed off our emphasis on developing people and came at a good time, as we‘re celebrating another excellent set of exam results for our young players.

Three months on from my last column, plenty more has been achieved. First of all, we had an exciting pre-season for players and staff across all age groups of the Academy. Thank you to you our staff for their hard work and dedication to our young players.

And before the new season even started, we had the pleasure of watching Kobbie Mainoo and Alejandro Garnacho achieve new career landmarks as they represented their countries at international tournaments. Kobbie becoming the third-youngest player to make the starting line-up for England in a knockout game at a major tournament. Of course, Alejandro was part of the Argentina squad that eventually won the Copa America.

It’s also worth noting that, at the start of September, Kobbie and Alejandro were both named on the 10-man shortlist for the Kopa Trophy (the award is for players under the age of 21 and is announced alongside the Ballon d’Or). Congratulations to them both.

The summer also saw graduate Tom Heaton join up with the England squad as a training goalkeeper. Fantastic!

While we are on the subject of international football it was great to see that Angel Gomes called up to the England senior squad for the September break; four years after he left United. Angel was a prominent figure in last summer’s England U21 squad which went on to win the European Championships and his performances at senior level drew much praise. You'll not be surprised to hear that there were some proud figures in the building the next morning. Our Academy players might leave and go on to join other clubs or pursue other things in life. We will never stop following their progress and drawing pride from their achievements. I didn't work closely with Angel myself, but many of my staff did, so well done to them and congratulations to Angel, as well. Every player who reaches that milestone has put in a lifetime's work to do so.

In early July we welcomed our new intake of scholars to the club as they reported for full-time employment with us for the very first time. The group of 10 players were joined by their families at a very special induction event where they were presented with their first club blazer adorned with club crest. Tony Whelan addressed the group to remind them of the significance of the blazer and how it represents belonging to a unique group of players that have come before them as well as it being a symbol of an exciting opportunity that lies ahead of them.

Well done to all of Daniel Armer, James Bailey, Cameron Byrne-Hughes, Frederick Heath , Amir Ibragimov, Godwill Kukonki, Bendito Mantato, Albert Mills, Dante Plunkett and Jim Thwaites.

You can see the ceremony in the latest of MUTV's Lifeblood films.

As always, this cohort represents a healthy balance of talent. Some of these players joined us over 10 years ago through the Pre-Academy programme, others have joined later on through our extensive scouting of grassroots football, with additional players recruited from other professional clubs.

Our recruitment team have been working hard to identify and register some high potential talent from across the UK. Hubert Grazcyk, formerly of Arsenal, has joined our group of goalkeepers in the Professional Development Phase while there have been three additions to the group of first-year scholars, all from different backgrounds, showing the strength of our recruitment team.

We welcome Samuel Lusale, Chido Obi-Martin and James Overy to the club. All three young players will join up with our Professional Development Phase as they adjust to life in Manchester and become acquainted with their new team-mates. It can be a difficult process for some players, while others slot right in. Whatever the scenario, our staff will be on hand to care for these young boys and make sure their experience at the Academy is an overwhelmingly positive one that sets them up for life. Good to luck to Samuel, Chido and James, well done to our recruitment team and congratulations to the families and wider support networks involved in these boys' journeys. Signing for Manchester United should be a proud day for everyone involved.

I’d also like to take a moment to praise our outstanding recruitment staff, led by Luke Federonko. Their roles can be lonely and require unsociable hours and they don’t often get the same praise as the coaches, but they deserve to.

The summer period also saw age groups travel far and wide to further their development.  Most notably many of our U21 players supported the first team group on the pre-season tour of the USA. We sent groups to Ireland, Northern Ireland, Croatia, Netherlands, Germany, and Hong Kong. Of course we also hosted residential training camps in this country including our long standing training camp at Shrewsbury School which provides our very youngest players with their first experiences of a residential trip.

For our players these residential training camps and tournaments represent an opportunity to develop new skills as they face unfamiliar opposition, compete against the very best players, deal with different competition formats and attempt to compete in front of crowds in games where the levels of jeopardy are different from the regular academy games programme.

Off the pitch these trips are an opportunity for personal growth as players explore new countries and cultures, meet new people, demonstrate independence, and start to experience what it is like to represent United in the public eye.

Of course, these trips also create some memorable and life changing experiences that many of our players would otherwise not have the opportunity to experience were it not for their association with us.

These trips take months of planning. And while it is a great privilege to represent Manchester United across the world, I am also aware that they require our staff to spend long periods of time away from home and their families. Whilst on tour the days are long and demanding in order to that we ensure we provide the appropriate support and care for the players. Thank you to everyone that worked tirelessly to ensure these events were delivered safely and to the highest standard.

The season isn’t even two months old, and we have already seen a debut from an Academy graduate. Toby Collyer made an appearance as a substitute in the Community Shield at Wembley and made his Premier League debut at Old Trafford against Liverpool. Congratulations to Toby. Well done, also, to the extensive group of staff that have supported Toby on his journey so far. Recruited from Brighton as an U18, Toby has represented our U18s, U21s and EFL Trophy teams. He has required support off the pitch; moving from Brighton on his own he has needed the support to settle at the club and in a new city. Toby’s host family have played an important role in his development.

The summer transfer window has enabled us to place eight young Academy players at loan clubs where they will experience senior football as the important next step in their development.

Joe Hugill, Wigan; Radek Vitek, Linz; Rhys Bennett, Fleetwood; Elyh Harrison, Chester; Sonny Aljofree, Accrington; James Nolan, Inverness Caledonian Thistle; Tom Myles, Runcorn Linnets; Tom Wooster, Farsley Celtic.

Identifying loan clubs and placing players on loan is an extensive process that requires collaboration across a number of departments. Thank you to everyone for your support. Coaches, the finance team, the negotiations team, the legal team, club secretarial, media, medical and player support all play an important role. A special mention to Les Parry who has worked hard to identify suitable opportunities for these players in the months leading up to the window.

Of course, we will be in regular contact with these players as we support their progress between now and January.

As is the case each summer, a number of graduates have left the club on a permanent basis. I know that you all take great pride in watching our former players build careers for themselves away from United and that you will join me in wishing them all the best of luck for the future.

We will remain in contact with each of them and continue to support them with the next steps of their professional lives as we do for any player that leaves us. All will be welcomed back as part of our Alumni programme, 'United Once, United Forever'.

So now our attentions have turned to ensuring that the season ahead is a successful one and that each of the individuals within our programme is given the support required to reach their full potential.

Tommy Rowe returns to the club as playing coach. Tommy left our Academy programme at the age of 15 and went on to have a successful career playing over 600 games in the Football League. Tommy, a qualified coach, will support the development of players in the Professional Development Phase. As a member of staff he will train with the group, driving professional standards on a daily basis. He will occasionally represent the U21s where it is deemed to be of benefit to the development of our high potential players.

We’ve also welcomed in two other new members of staff in Tom Curtis and Simon Wiles. They’ll be strong additions to our staff as we constantly look to improve.

There is a lot to look forward to in the next few weeks. We've recently hosted our annual Parents Conference, where Felix Mainoo - Kobbie's Dad - spoke to parents about the role they can play in their child's journey. Students are back at our partner schools (Ashton on Mersey and Manchester Grammar School) for the new academic year and the Premier League Academy games programme has resumed with our PDP players now competing the new National League Cup as well as some exciting fixtures in the Premier League International Cup, EFL Trophy and UEFA Youth League.

Good luck to all our staff and players for the season ahead - I'm sure it'll be another special one at this great club.