United were extremely busy in the just-concluded winter transfer window. The club was mostly focused on outgoings with several individuals departing either on a loan basis or permanently.

Some of the academy players who left temporarily were Maxi Oyedele (Forest Green Rovers), Joe Hugill (Burton Albion), Dan Gore (Port Vale), Rhys Bennett (Stockport), Radek Vitek (Accrington Stanley), Alvaro Fernandez (Benfica) and Hannibal Mejbri (Sevilla).

Will Fish (Hibernian) and Brandon Williams (Ipswich Town) carried on at their respective clubs.

A quartet of Sam Mather (Rochdale), Sam Murray (Rochdale), Sonny Aljofree (Altrincham) and Tom Wooster (Macclesfield) secured spells that will allow them to play for both their loan clubs and United’s Under-21s for the remainder of the campaign.

Isak Hansen-Aaroen (Werder Bremen) and Mateo Meija (Sevilla) left United for good in search of pastures anew.

Cox explained that loan moves are designed to help bridge the gap between academy football and the senior team.

He wrote for club media, “Naturally we would always prefer to see players integrated directly into the first-team squad where our staff have full control of their development and the players are exposed to our own first-team environment. Kobbie Mainoo and Alejandro Garnacho are recent examples of where this has happened successfully.”

“However, for some players, a period of development away from the club is required to provide experiences that will develop the skills needed to bridge the gap between Academy football and our first team.”

Cox explained that United successfully managed to secure loans for all the stars they felt needed fresh challenges away from Old Trafford.

He heaped praise on the club for sealing these transfers very early into January in contrast to past windows when crucial decisions would be made very late.

Cox revealed that one footballer who didn’t find life at United, especially during the early stages very easy, was Mejia.

United’s academy director said about the Colombian, “Let me focus on just one example for now. Mateo Meija joined us at the age of 16, arriving from Spain. His time with us was challenging for a number of reasons.”

“Arriving in a new country at a young age is hard enough, however, he experienced two major, lengthy injuries and had to endure being away from his family on his own during the pandemic. Mateo left us last month with a huge smile on his face, grateful for all the support he had received both on and off the pitch, and the skills he had learnt that will prepare him for adult life, both in and out of football.”

Cox indicated that Mejia told him during a conversation, “Manchester will always feel like my second home.” He added that the 20-year-old’s best memory at United is a wonderful goal against Arsenal at the Theatre of Dreams when he made his return to the Under-21s after a spell on the sidelines.

Cox further stated, “Our driving focus will always be to support players to form the core of a winning United first team, but that won’t be the case for every young player we work with. As a passionate youth developer, I get as much satisfaction from stories like Mateo’s as I do watching boys debut for our first team.”

The Red Devils chief thanked multiple members of club staff who worked tirelessly to facilitate loan switches for the youngsters who left in January.

He expressed his pride at United being ranked by the European Champions Report as the third-most productive club in Europe in relation to transitioning Academy talent to senior football.

In England, Erik ten Hag’s side are ranked number 1 in the same metric by the Premier League.

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Earlier on Thursday, it was officially confirmed that Mejia had permanently left Manchester United in search of pastures anew at Sevilla.

Sevilla paid no money for the Colombian although United inserted a 25% sell-on clause in the deal.

The Red Devils signed Mejia from Real Zaragoza in 2019, where he made headlines as one of the most promising talents around.

Five years later, he has returned to Spain, this time in the colours of Sevilla. Mejia never got a chance to break into the United first team and will be hoping for significantly better fortunes at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium.

Some of the 20-year-old’s ex-trainers at Zaragoza spoke to Estadio Deportivo and expressed their excitement at the new lease of life the striker has been presented with.

Míchel Catalán – Mejia’s first coach at Zaragoza – said, “I was in that match with Santi Aragón, and he surprised us from the first moment, especially because of his speed and ability to unbalance.”

“We signed him, and it was always at a different pace thanks to his speed. Mateo is a bullet and with spaces he is simply deadly. He could have perfectly dedicated himself to athletics.”

Raúl Martínez, who also worked with Mejia added, “Physically he is an animal.”

“When I had him, he was at speeds typical of a Spanish Athletics Championship. He is very fast, breaks defences and is very hungry to achieve things, which is essential for any promising young football player.”

“He could be a very good addition for Sevilla. It’s true that he has had problems with injuries, but he was having a good year at Manchester United and will adapt easily. At Sevilla there are no players with his profile and he can make a difference.”

Catalán insisted that Mejia is being watched by many people and if he gets a good chunk of minutes, will attract attention from some of the big boys in Europe.

He lauded Sevilla for taking a chance on the youngster before relaying that Los Nervionenses will not regret their decision to swoop in for the striker.

At least from the respective perspectives of Mejia’s ex-coaches, United’s loss is Sevilla’s gain.

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Mateo Mejia has joined Sevilla officially on a “free permanent deal” and United will have a 25% sell-on clause included, Fabrizio Romano reported.

Mejia joins Hannibal as the second academy graduate to move to Sevilla, with another youngster leaving La Liga this season in Alvaro Fernandez.

There has been a concerted effort from United this window to sell youngsters who would probably never make the grade here.

Consequently, even supposedly highly-rated players like Hannibal have buy options included in their loan moves, while Fernandez’s buy option at Benfica turns into an obligation after a set number of games.

For Mejia, however, this brings an end to a move that happened with much anticipation.

He was a menace in the youth circuits in Spain, known for scoring goals by the bucketloads.

United were widely lauded for being able to land the clinical Spanish youth striker, much like Charlie McNeil in England.

However, injury problems piled up during his time here and he could never get a consistently successful run in the team.

Furthermore, he couldn’t settle on one single position in the youth sides, playing all across the front line as the striker position was taken up by McNeil and Joe Hugill.

This is a pretty much no-risk move by Sevilla as they get a youngster with an undoubtedly high ceiling at his lowest point.

If this distressed asset rediscovers his mojo back in his home country then this deal will turn out to be a remarkable bargain.

If not, then they don’t lose anything as they didn’t pay any transfer fee for him.

For United, however, they will hope that Mejia is hugely successful at Sevilla so their sell-on clause nets them a sizeable fee in the long-term.

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On the surface, things are looking great at Manchester United’s academy level.

The under 18s are having an incredible season where they have won every league game they have played and Omari Forson recently became the club’s 249th academy graduate to make their first team debut for the Red Devils.

United’s Academy Director Nick Cox recently commented on the achievement by stating, “I would like to say well done to all of the staff who have played an important role in supporting Omari to this point. You each know who you are”.

No doubt 250 will be just around the corner with a seemingly prime opportunity to blood at least some youngsters against either Newport or Eastleigh in the FA cup at the end of January.

Furthermore, two of United’s standout performers this season have been Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo, who were both key components of the 2022 FA Youth Cup victory.

Willy Kambwala has also broken through and played a strong match against West Ham in his debut just before Christmas.

However, below the surface, perhaps something more sinister is brewing.

While certain players have had opportunities, a worrying trend is developing where a sizeable number of players who were considered some of the gems of the academy are being sold without ever having a chance to show their value to the first team.

This window, Manchester United have approved the potential sale of Alvaro Fernandez to Benfica and the permanent sale of Mateo Mejia to Sevilla. It is fair to say that neither player received any sort of chance in the first team and both had strong reputations at youth level.

Fernandez has played well over fifty senior games on loan at both Preston and Granada, so a direct sale without being given a sniff of the first team is strange considering the weird combinations of left backs the club has used with Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia suffering long term injuries this year. With Benfica seeming to only have an option to buy it seems possible that Fernandez may stay but it shows where he is in Ten Hag’s thinking that he would rather play Aaron Wan-Bissaka at left back then give the Spaniard a go.

Former United player, James Garner has also recently spoken out about his departure claiming that no one in particular tried to stop him from leaving and that “I feel like I’ve proven it to those who didn’t believe me over that side, but more importantly I’ve proven to myself that I can play in a Premier League side week in, week out”.

In the summer, Teden Mengi was sold to Luton Town for just €2 million and has immediately proven himself more than capable of playing Premier League level football.

Additionally, youth product Isak Hansen-Aarøen has been linked to a move away and his personal trainer has recently publicly stated that the player should leave to get first team opportunities as they are not forthcoming at Manchester United.

Even the deal for Hannibal Mejbri to go to Sevilla on loan can be questioned, because at the start of the season it appeared the Tunisian was ready to fight for a squad place and even with such devastating injuries in the middle of the park, he has barely featured in November and December for the club.

Therefore, are Manchester United abandoning their youth principles by selling academy players in favour of keeping expensive flops such as Antony on their bench?

Both sides of this debate can point to their own examples. The rise of Mainoo and Garnacho can be counter-balanced with the refusal to allow Fernandez or Mejia any sort of first team chance.

It is concerning that Erik ten Hag should understand this better than most. Ajax are one of the few teams in world football who could sensibly argue their traditional commitment to the academy is stronger than that of United and the Dutchman spent a long time at the club. However, the Dutch coach has already claimed he cannot play the Ajax way at United, so maybe he also doesn’t think he has the breathing space to trust youth the way he did at the Eredivisie side.

However, it must also be stated that every team needs to sell some academy products and Manchester United have been previously criticised in the past for holding on to youth team players who were never realistically going to make it and missed on a decent transfer fee as a result. Brandon Williams or Di’Shon Bernard are good examples of this, with the former still being connected to the club as he is only on loan at Ipswich.

All in all, United are still using their academy but they are playing with fire. They need to be careful not to get rid of too many players, too quickly and consequently, create a culture where youth players don’t feel they will have a fair crack of the whip. Of course, only the best should make it at a club like Manchester United and there should be no charity but the likes of Fernandez and Mejia will argue they never even had an opportunity.

So in spite of things looking rosy on the surface, the Mancunian side could be sleepwalking into losing their own youth identity, an identity that has outlasted all managers and owners since the 1930s, if they aren’t careful.

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United signed Mejia from Real Zaragoza in 2019.

He was a regular feature in Premier League 2 last season. He frequently trained with the first team but didn’t manage to make his senior United debut.

Mejia signed a new contract at Old Trafford in June, which was due to expire at the end of the ongoing 2023/24 campaign.

According to Romano, it seems that the Red Devils have elected not to hand Mejia fresh terms and have instead decided to part ways.

The Italian journalist reports, “Sevilla agree deal to sign Mateo Mejia from Manchester United on permanent transfer. Documents to be signed next week.”

“2003 born striker will leave the club on free permanent deal as contract was due to expire in June.”

“Manchester United will have 25% sell-on clause for Mejia.”

Excl: Sevilla agree deal to sign Mateo Mejia from Manchester United on permanent transfer. Documents to be signed next week.

2003 born striker will leave the club on free permanent deal as contract was due to expire in June.#MUFC will have 25% sell-on clause for Mejia. pic.twitter.com/3qsy5Bh4FX

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) January 13, 2024

Romano does not clarify the fee Sevilla will fork out to land the 20-year-old.

No doubt Mejia will be looking to finally kickstart his professional career at Sevilla and prove United should not have cut him loose so early on.

The Colombia under-20 international will likely soon be joined at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium by Hannibal Mejbri, who is also closing in on a loan move to Sevilla.

United and the Spanish giants have been in talks over a temporary switch to La Liga for Hannibal and it’s thought that official confirmation of a deal is close.

The Daily Mail’s Simon Jones reveals that Erik ten Hag’s side are expected to let the Morocco international leave after Sunday’s game against Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford.

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Manchester United’s academy player, Mateo Mejia, has endured a nightmare few years with injury but finally seems to be getting back to his best and is making a strong impression in the Premier League 2.

Madrid-based website, Relevo, have interviewed the Spanish-born Colombian on his progress this season to date.

After a serious ankle injury, the player is said to be “standing out” in United’s reserve team and is making such waves that La Liga strugglers, Sevilla, are apparently working hard to sign him.

The winger commented that in his last year in Real Zaragoza’s youth team, he scored 63 goals and this generated a huge market for his signature. “I always used to play as a right winger, but our forward was promoted with the seniors. Since we didn’t sign anyone, they put me as a forward… and it was an incredible season”.

In 2019, despite interest from other Spanish teams and Arsenal, Mejia decided on United.

“As soon as I stepped foot at Old Trafford I said: ‘I see myself here.'”

However, that is where the positive news ends and despite spending four years at the club to date, three of them have been recovering from a series of serious injuries. The Colombian claims, “I arrived, I started playing and I had an ankle injury that I had to have surgery on. I was out for eight months and when I was about to return to the pitch, I had a relapse and I had another operation: another eight or nine months. Then I came back, I was in several games, everything was fine and shortly after I injured the external meniscus in my right knee… and injured for almost eleven months”.

“They told me that the ankle injury was not very common; it was a tendon, like a ball, that moved in the ankle bone. Every time I ran it made ‘clack clac’. That was immense pain”.

Thankfully, the 20 year old has been able to get minutes under his belt in this campaign and was keen to repay the club’s patience by signing a new one year deal with the club in the summer, to show what he could do.

According to transfermarkt.com, the player has scored three goals and contributed five assists in the Premier League 2.

Mejia was outstanding versus Newcastle, where he grabbed an assist in a 3-2 win just before Christmas. The winger embarked on a mazy run that left numerous defenders for dead before playing a perfect ball into the box for Shola Shoretire to grab the winner.

Despite not contributing a goal or an assist in the EFL Trophy, the winger has had the chance to play three matches in this competition against professional adult footballers, which is always massive experience for young players trying to break through.

“I haven’t made my debut with the first team officially yet, but I have played at Old Trafford,” he recalls about a match with the reserve team. He has also been involved in numerous first team training sessions since his return from injury.

Speaking about his experience as part of the squad he claimed, “When Cristiano Ronaldo was there, I trained several times with them and… what a beast. He was always at 100%, always being an example, always being the best. I also really like Bruno, I loved Mata… People call Cristiano as a pimp or an arrogant guy. Then, we met on a recovery in the sauna, and he is a normal guy”.

Gametime and freedom from injury are the absolute essential all young players need to make it in professional football. While nobody could sensibly predict whether the young Colombian will make it at United, all fans will be hoping he gets the time to prove himself worthy of a new deal at the club and the chance to break into the first team like fellow Spanish born South American, Alejandro Garnacho.

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The match got off at an incredible pace with Joe Hugill darting 50 yards down the left wing before centreing to Shola Shoretire, whose poor first touch fortunately fell right into the path of James Nolan to smash low into the net in the first minute.

From the proceeding kick off, Newcastle produced an immediate reply with James Huntley winning the header at the back post to draw it level.

Into the 16th minute, Mateo Mejia linked up with Hugill down the right wing and was taken down when driving into the box to win a penalty for United.

The clinical Hugill stepped up and made no mistake putting it into the bottom left corner.

Hugill was the danger man again shortly after when he latched onto Sonny Aljofree’s ball over the top and showed his strength before laying off to Mejia, who was denied by a fantastic save and then was tripped up while going for the rebound but it wasn’t enough to convince the referee.

Just before the half ended, Shoretire drove through the middle before being taken down to earn a free kick in a dangerous area. Free kick specialist Sam Mather came within inches of extending United’s lead as his effort struck the crossbar.

Early in the second half, Newcastle came out flying and a cross from the left side evaded everyone in the box until Dylan Stephenson hit on the half volley at the back post past Tom Wooster.

It wasn’t level for long though, Mejia ran down the right wing and into the box before cutting back to Shoretire to side foot in from eight yards.

Newcastle’s Stephenson crept in behind Aljofree late on looking for an equaliser but Wooster came up with a big save to clinch the three points for Travis Binnion’s side.

Despite the win, Binnion wasn’t left impressed with the amount of chances allowed to the opposition but did say “it wasn’t a great game of football. But, we have come out on the wrong end of too many games this season, that we’ve dominated and took nothing from, so I think it is important that they understand how to win games of football.”

United: Wooster (Plumley 90+5), Nolan, Bennett, Aljofree, Murray, Huddlestone, Oyedele, Mejia (Musa 72), Shoretire, Mather (Wheatley 87), Hugill

Unused subs: Fitzgerald

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With their last two fixtures producing a combined 21 goals, the affair was certain to produce plenty of action and it did just that.

Arsenal took the lead in the 14th minute through Lino Sousa. The left back cut inside of Rhys Bennett and slotted low with his right foot past Elyh Harrison to give the visitors an early lead.

United looked to respond quickly but Omari Forson’s shot from 18 yards crashed off the outside of the post and out.

Arsenal doubled their lead in the 29th minute after their high press forced the turnover of possession and Jack Henry-Francis’ strike deflected off of Bennett and over the reach of Harrison.

The London side added a third shortly after as Sousa was let free to run on the overlap before rifling the ball into the roof of the net for his second of the match.

It went from bad to worse in the 37th minute when Arsenal scored their fourth of the match through a cross to the back post that was knocked back across for Khayon Edwards to tap in from close range.

United looked to fight back before the break though and Shola Shoretire earned the young Reds a penalty after being brought down inside the box. But unfortunately, it didn’t seem like it would be United’s day as Mateo Mejia soared the ball high and wide from the spot.

Mejia made up for his mistake in injury time when he pounced on a lose pass from Arsenal’s keeper and side footed into the open net to pull one back going into the half.

Conceding nine goals in the previous 90 minutes of football, Travis Binnion was sure to have been fuming in the changing rooms and looked to light a fire under the United players.

It almost worked as immediately upon the restart Joe Hugill raced past the Arsenal defenders and looked clean through on goal but a last ditch tackle denied him the chance.

Just shy of the hour mark, Hugill played to Mejia on the right who squared to Forson for an open net finish to make it 2-4.

United were much improved in the second half and created a number of opportunities, Forson in particular was a constant threat for the opposition but good keeping stopped him from adding a second to his tally.

After the match, manager Travis Binnion was displeased saying “my biggest disappointment with the first half was us in possession. We’ve got to be miles better in possession because we’ve given them chances from us having the ball.”

United: Harrison, Kambwala, Bennett (Nolan 59), Aljofree, Murray (Jackson 59), Oyedele, Shoretire, Mejia (Williams 65), Scanlon, Forson, Hugill (Wheatley 79)

Unused subs: Plumley

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Manchester United U21s kicked off their PL2 campaign on Monday away to Crystal Palace.

An early chance fell to United when Isak Hansen-Aaroen slipped through Joe Hugill, who crossed to the back post. Unfortunately, Mateo Mejia wasn’t quick enough to apply the finish.

In the 23rd minute, a long ball out to the right wing by Maxi Oyedele was collected by Mejia, who charged into the box and was taken down to win a penalty.

Mejia stepped up to take it and slotted it condfidently to the right keeper’s left to give United the one-goal lead.

Shortly afterwards, Noam Emeran used his pace on the right wing to lose his marker and play a through ball to Hugill, but it ran out for a goal kick in the end.

In the 40th minute there was more great work from Emeran, who created a big chance for Mejia, but the Spaniard failed to tap it in.

Despite United controlling much of the first half, Palace found a way to level it up just before the break, stretching the play to the left. A low cross was tapped in by Jesurun Rak-Sakyi, a 20-year-old who had a very successful loan spell with Charlton last term.

Five minutes into the second half, Hansen-Aaroen danced into the box and was clipped down to award United their second penalty of the match.

This time it was Marc Jurado who elected to take it and the fullback’s shot was towards the top left corner. This time the goalkeeper was alert in pushing it over the bar with an incredible save.

In the 76th minute, Crystal Palace trialist RoShaun Mathurin dribbled down the left before cutting onto his right foot and sliding past Tom Myles to give Palace the lead.

United looked to grab the late equaliser in the 90th minute when Emeran spread the ball to Jurado on the left wing. He followed the play into the box to receive Jurado’s cross and score from close range.

Ultimately it wasn’t to be though as Palace stole a late winner at the death. Mathurin was at the centre of the action again before Jadan Raymond finished inside the box.

Travis Binnion was disappointed in the result and said after the match that the young side needs to improve upon their finishing while conceding fewer chances if they are to improve on last season.

United: Wooster (Myles 31), Oyedele, Aljofree, Mengi, Jurado, Collyer, Shoretire, Mejia (Williams 75), Hansen-Aaroen (Ogunneye, 70), Emeran, Hugill (McNeill 46)

Unused subs: Jackson

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United confirmed on their official website that Mejia has agreed fresh terms with the Red Devils.

He will continue his development with United as he aims to make the jump to the senior team. Mejia was named on United’s retained list as a player who had been offered an extension that was yet to be signed.

United did not disclose the length of Mejia’s new deal.

United signed Mejia from Real Zaragoza in 2019. Last season, the forward played multiple games in Premier League 2, where he earned valuable experience.

He managed to score two goals and register twice as many assists in 15 appearances for the U21 side.

In total, Mejia has played 21 games for the Red Devils academy side.

Mejia was technically out-of-contract at the end of the month but his future has now been secured.

According to The Manchester Evening News, it’s possible that Mejia could head out on loan ahead of the upcoming campaign.

Richard Fay reports, “The Manchester Evening News understands Mejia could also be loaned out next season as he looks to make the transition from youth football to the senior game.”

The 20-year-old has not made his senior United debut but could get a chance during the club’s pre-season that kicks off in just a few weeks.

Mejia was born in Spain but has represented Colombia at Under-20s level. Mejia trained with the first team on a number of occasions last term.

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