Manchester United can win a trophy this season - and it's not the Europa League This week's Man Utd academy notebook on the latest ongoings, brought to you by the Manchester Evening News. The U21s are in the Premier League 2 play-off quarter-finals. (Image: 2025 Manchester United FC ) Hello and welcome to this week's Manchester United academy notebook. The Manchester Evening News provide more coverage of United's academy than any other outlet and we experimented by publishing an academy notebook last season. ‌ The notebook was brought back during the 2024/25 campaign and its purpose is to provide readers with digestible information about the current ongoings around the youth setup. ‌ ‌It will be published every Thursday and here is the latest academy news... Wheatley's situation at Walsall Although Ethan Wheatley signed for Walsall on loan in January, he played for the Under-21s against Everton last Friday for some much-needed competitive minutes in his legs. You wouldn't have blamed Wheatley for looking rusty because Walsall have omitted him from recent squads, but he looked pretty sharp and scored a brace in a comfortable 4-2 victory. Article continues below United are adamant there is no such thing as a bad loan move, and an academy source has said everyone at the club still has immense belief in Wheatley, who made his first-team debut last season. Walsall's second half of the campaign has been disastrous, but they are still in the hunt for promotion through the play-offs. The context is always important and Whealtey shouldn't be written off. Wheatley scored twice against Everton. (Image: 2025 Manchester United FC ) ‌ U21s into the quarter-finals The U21s' victory against Everton meant they progressed to the Premier League 2 quarter-finals. The Premier League 2 was revamped last season, meaning the league winner is decided through play-offs, and United are set to play West Ham in the quarter-finals on Easter Monday. United will play their game against West Ham on the latest possible date to give themselves the best chance of progressing, as youngsters will be involved with the first-team squad in Bilbao on Thursday. ‌ Every club is playing their quarter-final tie this weekend, with the exception of United. How Kone has settled United paid around £1million to sign Sekou Kone from Malian club Guidars FC last summer and the youngster has settled into life at Carrington thanks to the hard work of academy staff. Kone began English lessons immediately, but fans have not known that Travis Binnion (U21 manager), Dave Hughes (assistant), and Tommy Rowe (player-coach) have taken French lessons to communicate with Kone. ‌ Binnion has played down his French, but a source said "he has gone above and beyond" to help, and Rowe has also been credited with having a "brilliant" relationship with the midfielder. Kone has improved each month and will be assessed in pre-season by Rubem Amorim. Kone has been helped by academy staff. (Image: 2025 Manchester United FC ) ‌ Five youngsters in senior training United's first-team trained at a sun-kissed Carrington on Wednesday before they flew to Spain and Kone, Chido Obi, Harry Amass, Jaydan Kamason and Bendito Mantato took part in the session. Mantato is just 17 years old and was the youngest participant. I reported in November that he could be promoted to the first-team and he has all the qualities to excel at wing-back. The youngster is making huge progress and is pushing toward making his senior debut. ‌ Fletcher receives high praise Tyler Fletcher has gone under the radar in the No.6 position in academy games this season, but his consistency has been exceptional and he's quickly become a key player for the U21s. I asked Binnion about Fletcher last week, and the U21 boss replied: "He’s been outstanding. The fact is he gets into the best of the U21s on merit, like 100 per cent. He affects the game with the ball, the game without the ball and the game in the top third of the pitch. "He’s looking strong, fit and there’s loads more to come from him, he’s not done by a long stretch. So yeah, underrated? Maybe because he hasn’t been with the first-team, and maybe because there are players who are a bit more eye-catching in the forward positions who maybe have numbers to support. ‌ "But he’s not underrated by the staff, the club and the players. He’s excellent and like his brother [Jack], he’s got loads more to come, loads more physically to come." You will struggle to hear much higher praise for an academy player than that. T. Fletcher was superb against Everton. (Image: 2025 Manchester United FC ) ‌ Get United transfer news and updates on WhatsApp! 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