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Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand has waxed lyrical about youngster Shea Lacey, calling him a ‘breath of fresh air’.
Lacey is making great strides
Lacey’s recent performances at United are the product of years of development, with the teenager consistently seen as a premier talent coming out of the academy.
He has played three games for United and has not looked out of place once. He came off the bench against Burnley and immediately troubled the Clarets defence, almost winning the match for United with a beautiful curling shot that hit the post.
Lacey was then called upon to impress in Sunday’s FA Cup tie against Brighton and Hove Albion, which marked his Old Trafford debut. Once again he impressed for the Red Devils.
The striker brought an energy that was lacking with his willingness to attack defenders and deliver crosses into the penalty area. However, he was given his marching orders for two bookable fouls, reducing United to ten men – a harsh lesson he will no doubt learn from.
Darren Fletcher commented that Lacey is United’s future and Ferdinand has also praised the star’s bravery.
Speaking about the Rio Ferdinand presents podcastFerdinand explained that Lacey’s fearlessness comes from lacking past scars from failure and disappointment.
Ferdinand is enthusiastic about Lacey
The United ace commented: “You know what stands out to me? He’s confident and believes in his abilities, and he has a lot of ability because we’ve been watching him in the youth academy for a few years now.”
“But he’s the only one when you see him there. He doesn’t have deep scars from previous regimes, from past managers. He just came in and he doesn’t have any of that baggage.”
“He doesn’t have any of that in his head. His mentality is free of all that, and he’s come clean in saying, ‘I just have to play well’, and that’s a relief. There’s no hiding or thinking, ‘I don’t want to make a mistake’. He’s out there thinking, ‘give me the ball, I just want to do something, I don’t know what it is, but give me the ball and I’ll do something.'”
Ferdinand added: “And if he gets it, he does look a threat. I hope he isn’t pushed back to the Under-21s when Mbeumo and Amad come back. It will be interesting to see what they do with him.”
United are next in action on Saturday when neighbors host Manchester City in an early kick-off.
Feature image Carl Recine via Getty Images
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