Charlie McNeill made his senior debut for Manchester United on Thursday in the Europa League as the Red Devils lost 1-0 to Real Sociedad.
According to Manchester Evening News journalist Samuel Luckhurst, McNeill’s debut was a dream come true for his family, who have been widely described as “United mad”.
McNeill joined United from Manchester City for the second time in 2020 for a reported starting fee of £750,000 which could rise to £1.5m. He joined rivals United in 2014 from Carrington after his family were made an irrefutable offer to put his brothers at the prestigious St Bede’s College.
City unsuccessfully tried to tie the highly-rated youngster to a long-term contract at the Etihad.
McNeill turned down the offer of a new contract at City, where he captained the Under-16s, with United managers feeling at the time that the final fee would represent a “bargain”. They were right.
Ever since the 19-year-old scored his first goal for the Red Devils against Everton’s youth team, he has been a rising star. Since then he has scored numerous times and won the FA Youth Cup earlier this year.
His efforts culminated in his promotion to train with the first team and with his idol, Cristiano Ronaldo.
Luckhurst reports: “The 19-year-old trained with the Under-21s last Monday and Tuesday before being told he would be promoted to the first-team session on Wednesday alongside Tyler Fredricson and Kobbie Mainoo.”
“McNeill was only told late on Wednesday night that he would be in the matchday squad against Sociedad.”
“McNeill grew up idolizing the Portuguese [Ronaldo]. Well-placed sources at United say McNeill was one of the most excited youngsters to train alongside Ronaldo last season.
According to Luckhurst, McNeill, who is highly regarded as one of the stars of the future, has also been working hard one-on-one with respected academy coach Colin Little.
Little is credited with polishing Marcus Rashford’s game and helping turn the 24-year-old into the player he is today.
“Their [McNeill] the development in the last six months has hit the coaches. McNeill is considered one of the foremost leaders in academia.”
It is clear that under Ten Hag, the youngsters have a clear path to the first-team setup. One can’t help feeling that it’s just a matter of when and not if for a player of McNeill’s potential. 
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