Louis Van Gaal’s two years reign charge of Manchester United may not be fondly remembered by many, but the Dutch Manager won the FA Cup during his last season, and also, it was an exciting time for members of the club Youth rank. Van Gaal made Manchester United debut with Marcus Rashford, Timothy Fosu Mensah among others.
We take at some of the academy players who were handed their Manchester Debut by the Dutchman and how their respective careers have since developed.
Marcus Rashford
Rashford was one of the players who broke through the youth ranks to become a Manchester United senior team regular, The English striker story started when he was thrown in for a Europa League tie with Midtjylland by Van Gaal after Anthony Martial suffered an injury in the warm-up and he made the headlines scoring two goals.
Three days later, the teenager bagged a brace on his first-ever Premier League debut against Arsenal and also bagged the winner in the Manchester derby later that season.
Since then, Marcus Rashford has always been in the Manchester United senior team, he is the club’s top scorer this season.
Guillermo Varela
The Uruguayan was the first player signed during David Moyes’ era at Manchester United. However, Varela had wait for his time to break into the United side and went on to make 11 appearances in Van Gaal’s final season after being handed his debut by Van Gaal
Varela left on loan to Eintracht Frankfurt the following campaign though it didn’t go as planned, Varela returned to his native Uruguay with Penarol before returning to Europe with FC Copenhagen of Denmark.
Jesse Lingard
Lingard didn’t have a shot at Manchester United first-team prior to Van Gaal era, the attacker had spent time on loan at Leicester, Birmingham, and Brighton. Van Gaal finally gave the player a start in his first competitive match in charge of United against Swansea but was replaced no thanks to injury.
The second season of Van Gaal reign marked a breakthrough season for Lingard, he scored the winning goal in the FA Cup final against Crystal Palace, which was Van Gaal’s last game in charge of the Red Devils.
He has since been a regular under former manager Jose Mourinho and present manager Solskjaer.
Tyler Blackett
Blackett was one of Van Gaal’s preferred options during the injury crisis, making 12 appearances in 2014-15 and was rewarded with a new deal in 2015. He was loaned out to Celtic and joined Reading after leaving Glasgow where presently plays.
Paddy McNair
An injury crisis in Manchester United defense gave Paddy McNair an opportunity in the Red Devils’ starting XI, He left Manchester United For Sunderland but was later surplus to requirement, he was sold to Middlesbrough in 2018.
Tom Thorpe
Thorpe made just one appearance for United, coming on as a 94th-minute substitute in a win against West Ham.
He has since then had spells at Birmingham, Rotherham, Bradford, and Bolton.
Thorpe 27, has been without a club since leaving the Indian Super League side ATK in 2018.
Andreas Pereira
Pereira had loan spells at Grenada and Valencia in La Liga after Van Gaal left before returning to Old Trafford in 2018.
The Brazilian was one of the regulars under current manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Regan Poole
Poole made his only appearance for United, he was a late substitute the club’s victory over Midtjylland
After being released by the club in 2019, Poole joined newly-promoted League One club Milton Keynes Dons(MK Dons) on a free transfer.
Cameron Borthwick-Jackson
Jackson enjoyed playing time under Louis Van Gaal, the left-back made 14 appearances for Manchester United in 2015-16 season. The 23-year-old currently plays Oldham Athletic where he joined on loan in January 2020.