Shoretire reveals first-team Red he most admires

The teenager enjoyed a breakthrough season last term, making his Premier League debut against Newcastle United and earning a fourth senior appearance in total when coming off the bench at Wolves on the final day.

It came on the back of a campaign where the 17-year-old had played almost entirely with the Under-23s, rather than the Under-18s, as he continues to learn his trade.

When asked about regularly playing up in age-group during his fledgling career, Shoretire replied: "I think since I started playing football, I’ve always played at least one year up. I think that has helped me a lot because you have to learn the game quicker as I’m not one of the big ones.

“So you have to be quite technical, I think, and I look up to Juan Mata. He’s not the tallest or the strongest but is probably one of the cleverest players I’ve seen play and played with. He is always two steps ahead. I admire him a lot.”

Shola is also able to train with players who are similar to his age, such is the way United have always been quick to promote young talents. The likes of Mason Greenwood and Marcus Rashford have followed the same path from Academy to first team, so we asked if the forward spoke to them to gain advice on taking the big step into senior football.

“Yeah, definitely," he answered. "Like, when I’m in and around the training ground, on the pitch training, whenever we’re in between drills, I am always asking them questions because we’ve shared quite a few of the same experiences.

“I can learn from them, say from some of the experiences they’ve had in the past or things they want to help me with, they can advise me. So I can learn a lot from them on a daily basis.”